MBB: Lasers Keep Playoff Dreams Alive With Win Over Dean on Senior Day

Newton, MA - The Lasell Lasers defeated the Dean College Bulldogs by a final score of 80-69 on Tuesday night. The win moves the Lasers to 12-12 overall, and 9-8 in conference play. The Bulldogs are now 14-10 and 9-8. The two schools are part of a four-way tie for the final two GNAC Playoff spots with Johnson & Wales and Regis.

A low scoring game to begin, Dean held the early 5-4 advantage after five minutes. But the Lasers would respond with a 9-3 run to take a lead. The Bulldogs would briefly take back the lead at 14-13, but the Lasers responded immediately with an EJ Day three-pointer. The Bulldogs would go back up by as many as four, but the Lasers tied things up at 24 on a pair of Almando Marinez free throws, which wer ethe start of a 15-1 run for the Lasers. This gave Lasell a 37-25 lead with three minutes left in the half. A Conan McCusker four point play with just under two minutes to play proved to be the highlight of the half, and helped the Lasers take a 45-29 lead into halftime.

The second half saw the Lasers extend their lead out to 17 points with 16 minutes left to play on another McCusker three pointer. A 7-0 run from the Bulldogs got them back into it. A key moment occurred with 7 minutes remaining, as the nations leading scorer EJ Day committed his fifth foul, sending him to the bench for the rest of the game. The Lasers led 61-50 at that point. The Bulldogs would then go on a 14-7 lead to get within four points with three minutes left in the game. But just when things seemed to be going off the rails, DaVon Bradley hit a three pointer to put the Lasers up 71-64 with two and a half minutes left. The Bulldogs would once get within four, but Bradley answered again, hitting four free throws with under a minute to play. The Lasers would ice the game at the line, going 9-10 from the line over the final minute.

The Lasers had four double-digit scorers, led by Conan McCusker who scored 19 points off the bench. Behind him was EJ Day (18), DaVon Bradley (15), and Quinton Partee Jr. (10). Partee Jr. led the team with 14 rebounds, giving him his third consecutive double-double. Andrew Cabral also had a good game, scoring a career high eight points, while also grabbing a career high eight rebounds.

Prior to the game, the Lasers honored their five seniors in DaVon Bradley, EJ Day. Demerrick Warren, Andrew Cabral, and Almando Marinez.

Up Next - The Lasers will finish up their regular season by travelling to Albertus Magnus on Saturday, February 18th. That game will start at 3pm.