Men's Basketball Holds Off Mount Ida, 78-71
The Lasell College men’s basketball team fought off a second half rally from Mount Ida College to earn a 78-71 Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory.
Newton, Mass. (01/19/2013) – The Lasell College men's basketball team fought off a second half rally from Mount Ida College to earn a 78-71 Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory. Lasell climbed to 3-13 on the season and 2-7 in the league, while Mount Ida fell to 5-11 on the year and 1-9 in conference play.
Junior captain Rob Roy (Dover, N.H.) netted a team-high 19 points off the bench for Lasell, who got 13 points from Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.) and 12 points from Frank Apisa (Branchburg, N.J.). Chris Canino (Hartford, Conn.) finished with nine points and a career-high 21 rebounds for the Lasers.
Aaron Kelly (Norwalk, Conn.) tallied a game-high 22 points to pace the Mustangs, Cam Walker (New Bedford, Mass.) chipped in a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds, and John Fortes (New Bedford, Mass.) notched 13 points.
Trailing 13-11 in the early going, Lasell went on a 13-1 run behind eight points from Rob Roy to build a double digit lead at 24-14 with 7:20 to play in the opening half. The Mustangs got as close a six points before Lasell opened up a 14 points spread at the half.
Mount Ida was not finished, and slowly ground their way back into the contest, tying the game at 57-57 with 8:42 remaining in the game. After a Lasell timeout, Ortiz converted an and-one opportunity and knocked down a three pointer to put Lasell ahead by six, and an Apisa jumper put Lasell on top 65-57 with 7:23 left in the contest.
Canino put Lasell ahead 74-68 after making a free throw with 20 seconds to play, but the Mustang's Kelly was fouled shooting from behind the arc, and made all three shots from the charity stripe to make it 74-71 with 17 seconds to play. A pair of Ortiz free throws stretched the Lasers lead to five, and Canino added a pair for the 78-71 final.
The Mustangs will be off until January 24th when they host Johnson and Wales University at 6:00 p.m. and Lasell will host Rivier University on Monday January 21st, looking to avenge a three point loss in the Raiders gym on January 5th.
