MBB: Colby-Sawyer pulls out win over Lasell

NEWTON, Mass. – Colby-Sawyer College outscored Lasell College 20-2 over the final five minutes Thursday evening to pull out a 96-86 victory over the Lasers in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action at the Lasell Athletic Center.

The Chargers snapped a two-game losing skid and improve to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in GNAC games, while the Lasers drop to 4-13 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

Lasell got a career-high 45 points from junior Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.), who connected of 16-of-32 shots from the field. He was 10-of-19 from three-point range, tying the school record for three-pointers in a game; the mark was set by Jaime Crawford against Lesley on January 22, 2006.

Three other Lasers scored in double figures as sophomore Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) finished with 18 points, sophomore Tommy Beauchemin (Lincoln, R.I.) added a career-high 12 points off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting, and sophomore Liam Jacobs (Plainfield, Conn.) chipped in with 11 points. Nunez and Jacobs also shared team-high rebounding honors with eight apiece.

The Chargers had a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures. Junior Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) led the way with 24 points (7-of-14 from the field, 8-of-8 from the free throw line), while classmate Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) added an impressive double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds, connecting on 9-of-12 field goal attempts. Senior Jourdain Bell (Manchester, N.H.) was good for 19 points and sophomore Jake Carrier (Manchester, N.H.) added 11 points.

Colby-Sawyer had the early lead, pulling out to a 19-8 lead seven minutes in, but the Lasers stayed in the game on the hot-shooting of Masciarelli, who finished with 25 first-half points. Lasell battled back to take a 31-30 lead on Masciarelli's third of six first-half threes with 4:45 remaining, and three more Masciarelli buckets from long range helped the home team to a 44-40 lead at the break.

A three by Masciarelli and a hoop by Nunez to start the second half pushed the margin to nine points (49-40). The Lasers maintained a single-digit lead and held a 69-60 margin midway through the half, and a Masciarelli bucket with five minutes remaining put Lasell up 84-76.

The Chargers took over the rest of the way, scoring 14 straight points and shutting down the Lasers for nearly four minutes.  Coffey and Bean had five points each in the Charger rally, and Bell and sophomore KJ Synvrit (Miami, Fla.) added two each to put Colby-Sawyer ahead 90-84, before Masciarelli stopped the streak with Lasell's last basket with 1:17 remaining. Synvrit and Coffey tacked on a pair of free throws and Bean sealed the win with a dunk with 13 seconds to play.

Lasell will look to rebound in its next game on Tuesday, January 29, as it hosts Dean College in a non-conference game at the Athletic Center at 7:00 p.m. Colby-Sawyer is off until next Thursday, Jan. 31, when it hosts in-state and GNAC rival Rivier University at 5:30 p.m.

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