Lasers Pick Up 86-79 GNAC Win over Wildcats

Newton, MA- Lasell's Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA) scored a double-double, with 26 points and 10 rebounds, en route to an 86-79 Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory over Johnson & Wales University on Tuesday evening.  Williams scored 21 of those points and picked up seven rebounds all in the second half, leading the Lasers to their second GNAC win of the season.

Lasell took control of the ball at the opening tip, but it was the Wildcats who scored first over a minute into the game.  Johnson & Wales went up six before Lasell got on the board with a three-pointer by senior guard Charles Horton (Detroit, MI).  The Lasers lingered just shy of the Wildcats on the scoreboard until Justin Harris (New Orleans, LA) notched another trifecta at the thirteen minute mark to tie the score at 11-all.

The score continued to fluctuate throughout the half, culminating in seven total ties and six lead changes in the first period.  With just under 10 minutes remaining in the period, Lasell took their first lead of the game as Harris found Deshawn Dell (Boston, MA) making a backdoor cut to lay-in the go-ahead bucket.  Both squads continued to fight for possession of the scoreboard until the final moments of the half.  With 15 seconds remaining before the break, Louis Ferreras (Providence, RI) gave the visitors their final lead of the game with a breakaway layup, closing out the stanza 36-35 in favor of the Wildcats.

The eighth and final tie of the contest was scored three minutes into the second by Williams with hook-shot in the paint, knotting the score at 41-all.  The sophomore, forward then notched a pair of freebies to put Lasell ahead for good with 16:14 remaining in the contest. The Lasers went on a 14-4 run in seven minutes to produce a comfortable 14 point lead.

With eight minutes to play, Johnson & Wales put together a 10-0 stretch of their own to come back within 4 points of the home team, but that was as close as the Wildcats would get for the remainder of the contest.

Three Wildcats produced double-digits in the scoring column, with Lamonte Thomas (Providence, RI) leading the way on 19 points, seven rebounds.  Calvin Jones (Providence, RI) produced 16 points, eight boards, and four steals and Ferreras closed the evening with 14 points, five rebounds, and two steals.

In addition to Williams' impressive performance, Lasell received 19 points from Horton, including four-of-nine attempts from downtown.  Harris added 16 points while grabbing seven boards off the glass and Dominik Orlow (Slupsk, Poland) finished with ten points and five rebounds.

Lasell is now 4-6 overall and 2-2 in the league, while Johnson & Wales drops to 5-7 and 2-3 in the conference.

Lasell is back in action on Thursday, January 14^th at 5:30 p.m. at Emerson College.