Nichols Tops Men's Basketball 90-81

NEWTON, Mass. -- The Lasell College men's basketball team fell 91-80 to Nichols College in a non-conference matchup at the Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.

Lasell had five players in double figures in the home-opening loss. Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.) led the Lasers with 20 points accompanied by one assist and four rebounds.

Junior Brandon Vila (Jersey City, N.J.) dominated on the glass for the Lasers, recorded a game-high ten rebounds all on the defensive end to go with 13 points and six assists. Senior Dannie Moore (Orlando, Fla.) chipped in 17 points and eight rebounds and Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.) added 14 points, six boards, and five helpers. Freshman Liam Jacobs (Plainfield, Conn.) chipped in 10 points and five rebounds off the bench and Lasell out-rebounded the Bison 39-23.

Marcos Echevarria (Lynn, Mass.) recorded a game-high 28 points, along with four assists, two rebounds and two steals for the Bison. DeAnte Burton (New London, Conn.) finished with 24 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor and 11-14 from the charity stripe. Jerome Cunningham chipped in 12 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks and Daequon Antoine (Fort Mill, S.C.) added 10 points and nine rebounds for the visitors.

The Lasers used a 12-0 run over the course of 3:04 to take a  21-9 lead with 11:49 remaining in the first half. Jerome Cunningham (Westbury, N.Y.) put an end to the Lasers run on a free throw, one of his 12 points on the day. Cunningham also contributed nine rebounds, one assist, two blocks and one steal.

Nichols would battle their way back into the game, as Antoine would tie the game at 33-33 with 3:32 remaining in the first half.

Lasell would take a 43-40 lead to the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, Nichols came out firing,  jumping out to a nine-point lead with 13:17 remaining in the second half.

DeAnte Burton helped the Bison regain the lead with 7:40 to go in the second half off a pair of free-throws, giving the Bison a 67-66 advantage.

Late in the second half, the Bison outscored the Lasers 17-5 in 4:08 to take an 83-71 lead with 3:29 remaining.

With 1:15 remaining Jacobs cut the deficit to 89-78, but the Bison lead was too much to overcome as Nichols held on to win 91-80.

Lasell and Nichols both finished the game with identical 49.2 field-goal percentages, each shooting 30-61 from the floor.

The Bison are back in action on Tuesday, November 21st at Wesleyan at 7:00p.m. Lasell returns to the court on Monday, November 20th as they host Brandies at 7:00p.m. in non-conference play.