Lasers Fall to RIC 72-69 On the Road

LATE BUCKETS LEAD ANCHORMEN PAST LASELL, 72-69


Providence, R.I.--The Lasers held a three point lead with six minutes remaining this afternoon, but they were unable to hold on down the stretch and eventually fell to the Anchormen in Providence. 

With six minutes remaining, RIC pulled within one of the Lasers after a layup by Tahrike Carter made it 60-59.  Mason Choice buried a pair of free throws with 4:52 on the clock to give the Anchormen a one point lead, but senior forward Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA) responded to put the Lasers back on top, 62-61, with 4:36 left to play.

The Anchormen answered on a bucket from Choice to put RIC back in the lead, 63-62. Carter then put his team up by three as he corralled his own rebound on a missed attempt in the paint and finished with the putback to make it, 65-62, with 3:13 remaining.

Both offenses fell silent for the next two and a half minutes, until junior guard Arthur Alexander (Port St. Lucie, FL) trimmed RIC's lead to just two points with a single free throw with 1:35 left to play. However, the Anchormen responded in the clutch as Tom DeCiantis drained a three-pointer from the baseline with 36 seconds on the clock to give RIC a 68-63 lead. With the game on the line, the Anchormen showed some mettle from the free throw line, going 4-for-6 from the charity stripe over the final 30 seconds to put away the Lasers.

The two squads opened the first half neck-and-neck, as the Anchormen and the Lasers were deadlocked, 8-8, with 16:25 remaining in the first half. Senior guard Nate DiSessa (Westfield, MA) buried a three to give Lasell its first lead of the game.

Lasell led 11-8, with 15:34 left in the first stanza, but Rhode Island College rattled off 14 unanswered points to take a 22-11 lead. However, the Lasers clawed their way back into the ballgame, trimming the deficit to just one after a three-ball from junior forward Sonny Mello (Fall River, MA).  The Lasers went into the half trailing 42-36.

After shooting 65 percent from the floor in the first frame, the Anchormen cooled down significantly in the second half. Rhode Island College held on to the lead throughout much of the second half, until the Lasers went on a run around the seven-minute mark. After junior guard Sean Bertanza (Seymore, CT) knocked down a mid-range jumper and tied the game at 57, a sequence of RIC turnovers led to a one-handed slam from Williams and a single free throw from freshman center Frank Apisa (Branchburgh, NJ) that gave the Lasers a 60-57 lead prior to the hosts taking the game over.

The Anchormen controlled the glass, outrebounding the Lasers, 39-28. However, Lasell won the turnover battle, 21-16.

Bertanza led the Lasers with 17 points, while Mello added 16 points and seven rebounds. Williams tallied 14 points and four boards, with Nate DiSessa chipping in with eight points and a game-high seven assists. Sophomore guard Brandon Ganesh (Wellington, FL) posted eight points.

The Lasers will be in action again at home on Tuesday the 22nd when they host Babson at 7:30pm in Newton.