Lasell Men’s Basketball defeated by Norwich

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Lasell College men's basketball team had a two-game winning streak stopped Saturday afternoon with an 80-59 loss to the Cadets of Norwich University in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game at Norwich's in Andrews Hall.

The Lasers, who had shot better than 50 percent in five of their last seven games, were limited to a 33.8 percent clip on Saturday. Lasell fell to 8-10 overall and 6-3 in the GNAC, while Norwich improves to 8-9 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

Sophomore Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.) led the Lasers with 18 points, while junior Joe O'Brien (Saugus, Mass.) scored a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting off the bench, all three-point shots. Senior Scott Arsenault (Walpole, Mass.) made four three-pointers and finished with 12 points, and junior Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.) contributed eight points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Zygimantas Sirvydas (Silale, Lithuania) led the way for Norwich with 22 points and eight rebounds. Fitzgerald netted 15 points on 6-7 shooting from the field, along with six rebounds.

Lasell opened the game on a 9-2 run, but Norwich responded with back-to-back Tommy Fitzgerald (Williston, Vt.) three-pointers to make it suddenly 9-8. An ensuing 11-0 Norwich run capped by yet another Fitzgerald three-pointer had the Cadets up 29-16. A late run by the Lasers, sparked by three straight threes by O'Brien, made it interesting again, setting up a 32-28 game at halftime.

Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) opened up the second half with a long three-pointer. The Cadets would outscore Lasell 48-31 in the half to post the GNAC win.

Lasell returns home to host Johnson & Wales University in a GNAC contest Tuesday (8:00 p.m.) at the Athletic Center. The Cadets are back on the court Tuesday when they travel to Regis College.

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