MBB: Lasers Make History, Defeat Blue Jays 71-66

Newton, MA - The Lasell men's basketball team hosted the Blue Jays of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Tuesday evening for their final home regular season contest of the 2024-25 campaign. 

Both teams came into the night boasting overall records of 17-6 on the year and the Blue Jays held the #1 seed in the conference (11-1) with the Lasers coming in the #3 seed (10-2). With just one more game left remaining on the schedule the implications for final playoff seeding were high with each team needing to secure a win to lock up their spot. 

The game started off slow seeing only 7 points scored over the first five minutes of play with the Lasers holding a 5-2 lead. It was shortly thereafter that the Lasers broke open the slow-scoring trend rattling off an 8-2 run over the next few minutes and opening a 13-4 advantage. The Blue Jays did briefly bring it back to within 5 (15-10), but a 7-0 run within 36 seconds of game time boosted that lead to 12 just past the midway point of the first half. The Lasers held the double-digit lead for a good stretch of the half but the Blue Jays outscored the Lasers 11-3 in the final 2:39 of the half cutting the Laser lead to just 3, 38-35 at the break. 

Saint Joseph carried their momentum into the second half as they outscored the Lasers by 4 in the first five minutes which gave them their first lead since 2-0 in the game. With the Blue Jays having fought back and taken the lead, the Lasers steadied themselves and mounted a run of their own with a 12-5 spurt, which was capped by a Marcus Lewis jumper, making it 55-49. After the Lasers led for a few minutes, the Blue Jays re-tied the game at 56-56 and then proceeded to climb in front by 5 (61-56) taking their biggest lead of the game with just six minutes to go. On the following trip down the floor, Marcus Lewis got fouled shooting a three and hit two of three free throws to bring it back to within one possession. Che Hanks then aided in scoring the next two Laser baskets which recaptured the lead 62-61. Down the stretch just under the two-minute mark, the game was once again tied at 64-64. Following a timeout, the Lasers had possession and the shot clock was winding down. In need of putting up a shot, the ball ended up finding Andy Madesko late in the clock who caught it well behind three-point range. Seeing little time left, he set his feet and put up the shot, nailing the deep triple to give the Lasers the three-point lead. The Blue Jays then came down on their offensive trip and sank two free throws narrowing the lead to one. On the next Laser offensive possession, once again late in the clock, Che Hanks drove and drew two defenders which left teammate Esmer Madesko open under the basket. Hanks then delivered the pass to the cutting Madesko who put in the layup, putting pressure on the Blue Jays to tie the game with just about 20 seconds left. On defense, the Lasers held the Blue Jays getting a huge stop and securing the rebound where the Blue Jays were then forced to foul. Che Hanks then calmly stepped up and sank both free throws which subsequently sealed the Laser win 71-66. 

Tuesday night's victory marked the first time in men's basketball program history to have defeated Saint Joseph (Conn.), having had a prior record of 0-7 against the conference foe dating back to 2018-19. Not only this but the win shook up the standings as Lasell now moves up to second in the conference behind Saint Joseph (ME) with Saint Joseph (Conn.) falling to third. Esmer Madesko led the team in scoring on the night posting 18 points which he paired with 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Che Hanks and Marcus Lewis also had an impact offensively with 14 points each and Lewis added 10 rebounds to his total for another double-double on the season. Andy Madesko provided a great all-around effort, chipping in 8 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. 

Up Next - The Lasers will cap their regular season on the road facing the Blazers of Elms College at 3 PM on Saturday afternoon.