WPI EDGES LASELL 78-77

WPI's Ben Etten (Hollis, NH) nailed a twelve foot jump shot with 7 seconds on the clock to seal a one point victory over Lasell on Tuesday night, in non-conference men's basketball action.   The dramatic win was the fifth in a row for the undefeated Engineers, while the Lasers even their record at 2-2 this season.

The Lasers began the evening with a three point connection by Junior Sainval (Miami, FL).  Jose Guitian (Miami, FL) and Brad Caravoulias (Dracut, Mass.)  followed suit, sending Lasell on an 11-4 run over a four minute span.  WPI came back with seven successive points, culminating with a three by Kyle Nadeau (Webster, Mass.) to tie the game at 11.

At 11:35, Kevin Fallon (Manasquan, NJ) drilled a three, giving Lasell a 19-15 lead, followed by Fallon feeding Guitian in the post to bounce the lead to 21-15, at 10:30.

Etten hit WPI's second three of the game followed by a Jerome Stewart (Bloomfield, Conn.) fast break layup to cut the lead to one, at 25-24. Just 30 seconds later Jerome Kirkland (Boston, Mass.) made the Engineer's third trifecta, allowing the hosts to push ahead for the first time, at 27-25.

WPI's lead was halted at a high of six points as Caravoulias went on a seven point stretch to put Lasell ahead, 35-34. Over the next five minutes of play in the half, the lead changed five times.  In the final ten seconds, Jeffery Robinson's (Granby, Conn.) three pointer pulled WPI up by two.  Guitian hit the front end of double bonus free throws to close within one point into the half, 41-40.

Lasell scored the first four points of the second half with Guitian buckets, bringing the Lasers up by three. The Lasers hit a game high lead of 10 points after an and one play by Corey Godfrey (Cambridge, Mass.) on a driving layup. Within three minutes of that lead, the hosts trimmed their deficit to one.  The Engineers tied the game four times before finding their first lead of the half with 3:30 left to play.

WPI kept the advantage until Guitian poured in two free throws with 59 seconds to play giving the Lasers a 77-76 lead.  A defensive rebound by Stewart off a Lasell miss with 13 seconds left led to Etten's game winning jumper, amid thick defensive pressure.  The final seven seconds expired without the Lasers getting a final shot off.

Lasell had three scorers hit double figures, led by Guitian with 26 points.  Charles Horton (Worcester, Mass.) added 5-7 from behind the arc, and totaled 17 points, and Caravoulias tallied 12 points.  Guitian also pulled down a game-high 10 boards, with Kevin Richard (New Orleans, LA) grabbing 5 boards and issuing 5 assists.

The Lasers play their next two games on the road, first against #15 Amherst College on December 2nd at 7:00 p.m. and then opening conference play at Rivier College on December 4th at 5:30 p.m. Lasell returns to their home court on December 9th when they host Norwich College at 6:00 p.m.