Lasers Fall to Amherst in Newton

NEWTON, MA- Amherst College defeated Lasell College on Tuesday night in a non-conference men's basketball regional match up, 94-61.  The Lasers were led by senior Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA/Cathedral) who put up 16 points. Amherst's Jeff Holmes (Saunderstown, RI/St. Raphael Academy), led all scorers with 21 and Taylor Barrise (Allendale, NJ/Northern Highlands) contributed a double double performance with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

Behind the shooting of Willy Workman (Northhampton, MA/Deerfield), who scored 12 in the first half, the Lord Jeffs found themselves ahead by 14 after 20 minutes of play.  Barrise contributed eight points and eight rebounds and Holmes notched 10 points and seven boards all in the first 20 minutes. The victors outrebounded the Lasers in the first half 29-16. The first half ended with Amherst up 44-30.

 Early in the game, Lasell was led by Javon Williams (Mattapan, MA/Cathedral) and Earnest McNeil (Boston, MA/Cathedral) who scored eight points apiece in the first half.

Lasell fought back in the second half, coming to within nine at the 11 minute mark after a steal by Sherrod Wade (College Park, GA/Benjamin Banneker) and a layup by Williams. The rest of the half though belonged to third ranked Amherst as they went on a 20-2 run to bring the score to 79-52 with just under seven minutes remaining. 

Amherst finished with a shooting percent of 45.6 from the floor and the team shot an impressive 72% from the line.  Amherst's Aaron Toomey (Greensboro, NC/Bishop McGuinness) also contributed 20 points, including going 11-13 from the free throw line.

Along with the 16 points from Williams, Sean Bertanza (Seymour, CT/Trinity Pawling)  added 11 and McNeil contributed 10.  McNeil also led the team in rebounds, grabbing eight in the loss.

The Lord Jeffs wrap up their three game road trip on Friday, December 2nd at Springfield College in the Pioneer Valley Classic.

 The Lasers will be home again on Thursday, December 1^st when they host WPI at 8:00 pm.