Saints Outlast Men's Hoops in 59-55 GNAC Tilt

Newton, Mass. (1/31/15) – The Lasell College men's basketball team dropped a 59-55 decision to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe Emmanuel College Saturday afternoon in the Athletic Center Gym. The loss sets the Lasers back at 5-12 (4-7 GNAC), while the Saints climb to 6-11 (4-7 GNAC).

Freshman guard Scott Arsenault (Walpole, Mass.) came off the bench to lead all Lasers with 22 points, while junior guard Richard O'Brien (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in with 13.

For the Saints, junior center Kyle Davis (Groveland, Mass.) poured in a game-high 23 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Josh Bushman (Hurst, Texas) added eight points, while junior forward John Clay (Westport, Mass.) also recorded eight points off the pine.

After a back and forth opening 10 minutes, Emmanuel took a 16-8 lead with nine minutes to play in the first half. Arsenault rallied the Lasers scoring the team's next 11 points, trimming the Emmanuel lead to 22-19 with 4:17 left on the clock. Lasell trailed the visitors at halftime 27-24.

Davis scored six points to open the second half, giving Emmanuel a 33-26 cushion. An O'Brien three-pointer cut the deficit to 33-32 for Lasell. A Clay three-pointer and a jump shot by sophomore forward Matt Raine (Miami, Fla.) gave Emmanuel the lead at 43-37 with 9:46 to play.

Arsenault connected on his fifth triple of the game with 8:09 left to bring Lasell back within one, but the Saints answered with a layup and a free throw from Davis and a driving basket from sophomore guard Julian Diggs (Upper Marlboro, Md.) to restore the visitors' lead at 48-42. Arsenault dropped his sixth from behind the arc and then answered a Bushman jumper with one of his own to leave the Lasers behind 50-47 with 4:46 to play.

Bushman netted a pair from the charity stripe to make it 54-47 with two minutes remaining, but Lasell wouldn't go away, responding with a three pointer from senior guard Jeremy Daniel (Bridgeport, Conn.), a free throw by sophomore forward Yordan Villalon (Miami, Fla.) and a layup from senior guard Mike Vallone (Wallingford, Conn.) to cut the deficit to 56-53 with 36.7 seconds to play.

Lasell forced Bushman into a traveling violation, and a layup from Lasers' O'Brien trimmed the margin to 56-55. Davis made one of two from the line for a 57-55 advantage with 17 seconds left. O'Brien drew a foul on his drive to the basket with 6.2 seconds on the clock, but saw his first free throw glance off the iron and a violation by Lasell negated his second attempt. Bushman knocked down a pair from the line to seal the 59-55 victory for Emmanuel.  

Both teams will jump into GNAC action for their next contest. The Saints will travel to Anna Maria College on Monday, February 2^nd for a 7:00 p.m. start, while the Lasers host top-seeded Albertus Magnus College on Wednesday, February 4^th at 7:00 p.m.