Men's Hoops Clinches Top 4 GNAC Finish with 77-74 Win at Anna Maria

Paxton, Mass. (2/15/14) – The Lasell College men's basketball team captured a 77-74 Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory at Anna Maria College on Saturday afternoon. The Lasers clinched a top-4 finish in the GNAC with the win, pushing their league mark to 10-5 and their overall record to 13-9, while Anna Maria dropped to 7-9 in GNAC play and 9-14 on the season.

Lasell was paced by senior guard Brandon Ganesh (West Palm Beach, Fla.) who finished with 24 point and eight rebounds and sophomore forward Clyde Niba (Atlanta, Ga.) with his 12^th double-double, netting 19 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.) and Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.) chipped in with 16 and 10 points respectively for the Lasers.

Quantez Franklin led the way for Anna Maria with 21 points and nine rebounds while Hugh Daye added 15 points and seven caroms for AMC. The AMCats also got double figure scoring outputs from Trevon Farley with 12 points and Joseph Barillo and Kyle McKissick with 11 points each.

A slow start shooting the basketball by Lasell allowed the hosts to take an early 16-7 lead with 13:12 remaining in the first half. Lasell closed the gap with a 13-4 run behind a pair of three pointers from Walters, tying the game at 20-20 with eight minutes left in the half. The two teams traded baskets until Anna Maria broke a 33-33 tie by scoring the final five points of the first half to take a 38-33 lead into the intermission.

Lasell evened the score at 48-48 with 15 minutes left in the game on a pair of free throws from Niba, and the two teams continued their nip and tuck affair as the lead changed hands six times and the contest was tied on six different occasions over the next ten minutes. A Quantez Franklin jumper tied the score at 68-68 with just over five minutes to play, but a Ganesh triple on the ensuing possession put Lasell back in front 71-68. Baskets by Ganesh, Ortiz and Walters for Lasell helped to offset a pair of free throws from Franklin and a Barillo jumper helping Lasell maintain their lead at 77-72 with just under two minutes remaining. Two more free throws from Franklin with 1:44 to play drew AMC within three at 77-74, but a pair of offensive rebounds by Ganesh and Sonny Mello (Fall River, Mass.) helped Lasell drain the majority of the time left in the game.

The AMCats would have one final possession following a Lasell miss, calling timeout with eight ticks left on the clock. Anna Maria got a good look at a game-tying three pointer, but Daye's effort rimmed out, preserving the Lasers victory.

Lasell will return to action on Tuesday February 18^th when they host Rivier University prior to a road trip to neighboring Suffolk on Thursday evening before closing out the regular season on Saturday February 22^nd against St. Joseph's College of Maine.