Rivier Defeats Lasell in Final Regular Season Contest

Nashua, NH- The Lasell College men's basketball team finished the 2009-2010 regular season with a 10-15 overall record (8-10 GNAC) after a 66-53 season ending loss to the Raiders of Rivier College on Saturday afternoon.  

The game commenced with a three-pointer by Dominik Orlow (Slupsk, Poland) to give Lasell the first lead of t he game.  Four three's and eight minutes later, Lasell held a six point edge, 16-10.  The Raiders whittled their way back to bind up the score at 22-all with five minutes left to play in the first half after a trey by Joe Granato (Arlington, MA) and two points by Don Poitras (Bow, NH).  Rivier finished the half with an eight straight points, broken up only once by Lasell's Charles Bennett (Red Bank, NJ), who hit the first of two free throws.  The Raiders had possession of a 31-23 lead at the half.

The second half started with another Orlow basket to cut the Lasers' deficit to six points, however, the Raiders countered with a trifecta by Brian Troy (Keene, NH) to launch the hosts into a 14-0 run, resulting in a twenty point Raider advantage by 16:16.  Four points by senior forward Sean Joynes (Philadelphia, PA) ignited a Laser push that was capped with a three-point play by Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA), and by 10:44 the Lasers bridged the distance in score to just ten points (49-39).  Unfortunately, that is as close as the Lasers would get for the remainder of the game.  The Raiders converted on five-of-seven free throws down the stretch to seal the 66-53 victory. 

The Raiders held Lasell to just a 34% shooting from the floor, and conversely shot exceptionally well all-around, going 22-47 from the floor (47%) and 9-17 from three-point land (53%) throughout the contest.

Poitras put up a double-double for the Raiders, and led all scorers with 17 points, and 12 boards.  Granato converted on four-of-six three-pointers and tallied 16 points in the win.

 Williams recorded his 12th season double-double for Lasell, scoring 15 points and ripping down 12 rebounds.  Orlow and Charles Horton (Detroit, MI) also notched nine points apiece for the Lasers.

The Lasers finished the season in 6th place, and will travel to the number three seed, St. Joseph's College, ME  in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarter-final playoff game, which will take place on Tuesday, February 23rd at 7:00 p.m.