Men's Basketball: Lasers run away with a 78-48 victory over Colby-Sawyer

NEWTON, Mass. - Senior guard EJ Day scored his 1,000th collegiate point and forward Kevin Vanderhorst set a program record with 27 rebounds, as the Lasers raced out to an 18-0 lead during a 78-48 Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory against Colby-Sawyer Saturday in the Athletic Center.

Day (18 points) came into the game with 997 career points and reached the 1,000-point milestone on a 3-point shot 4:04 into the first half, which gave the Lasers (9-5, 6-2 GNAC) a 10-0 advantage. Vanderhorst finished with 18 defensive rebounds and senior guard Kevin Nunez filled up the box score with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Freshman forward Jordan Lanoue scored his first collegiate points on a layup in the fourth quarter.

"It was a good team win tonight," said Lasell University Men's Basketball Head Coach Aaron Galletta. "I thought Kevin Vanderhorst really stepped up and controlled the glass for us. Our defense set the tone early and allowed us to get out in transition."

Lasell shot 45.1% from the field and limited Colby-Sawyer (6-9, 3-6 GNAC) to 35.2% shooting from the field and 6.7% shooting from long range. The Lasers won the rebounding battle, 50-28. The 50 rebounds were a season-high and the Lasers shared the ball well, tying a season-best 20 assists. The Lasers led second-chance points, 21-5, points in the paint, 34-22, and points off turnovers, 18-12.

Deondre Smith led the way with 16 points for the Chargers and Dylan Santosuosso scored 14 points off the bench for the visitors on 7-of-8 shooting from the field in 31 minutes.

Lasell kept Colby-Sawyer off the scoreboard for the opening 7:08 of the game. Vanderhorst scored the first seven points of the game, featuring a pair of layups and a 3-pointer. A dunk by Nunez off a defensive rebound and assist by Vanderhorst gave the Lasers an 18-0 advantyage with 13:37 left in the first half. A layup by Day with three seconds left on the clock sent the hosts into halftime with a 37-22 lead. Vanderhorst tallied a double-double in the first half with 10 points and 15 boards.

The Chargers tried to make a push in the second half and cut the deficit down to 39-29 on a jumper by Smith with 17:56 remaining. Lasell blew the game open with a 15-2 run, as a jumper by freshman guard Karim Belhouchet extended the unit's lead to 54-31 with 12:23 left. Junior guard Demerrick Warren gave the Lasers 10 strong minutes off the bench in the second half, going 2 for 3 on treys.

The Lasers will host GNAC-foe Elms Monday with tipoff set for 7 p.m. in the Athletic Center.

Director of Athletic Communications Trevor Wenners can be reached at twenners@lasell.edu.

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