Men's Basketball Falls to Johnson and Wales in GNAC Contest

Providence, R.I..– The Johnson & Wales University men's basketball squad defeated Lasell, 90-75 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Harborside RAC on Tuesday evening.

Junior Sean Bertanza (Seymour Conn.) paced Lasell with 19 points and six rebounds while Javon Williams (Mattapan, Mass.) had 12 points and five boards in the setback for the Lasers. 

Johnson & Wales was led by senior All-American Lamonte Thomas (Providence, R.I.) with 45 points, seven assists and four rebounds while fellow senior James Folk (Lawrence, Mass.) had 24 points and six rebounds in the victory for the Wildcats.

Lasell raced out to the early 7-0 lead on a layup by Bertanza just 1:16 into the contest.  The two teams then traded baskets and JWU tied the score 19-19 midway through the first half.  JWU then went on a 16-2 run, capped by a layup by Thomas to take the 35-25 lead with 6:47 left on the clock.  The Wildcats led by as many as 14 points in the half before taking the 45-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.  JWU shot 56.7% from the field in the half with Thomas pouring in 27 points.

The Wildcats built on their lead in the opening stages of the half and took a 63-41 lead on a three-pointer by Folk with 14:29 remaining.  Lasell responded however and cut the lead to 76-64 on a layup by sophomore Earnest McNeil (Boston, Mass.) with 6:23 remaining.  It would not be enough though as JWU took the  90-75 victory.

With the win JWU improves to 11-11 overall and 10-5 in the GNAC while Lasell falls to 10-12 for the year and 9-6 in league play.  The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, Februuary 11th when they travel to Mount Ida for a GNAC contest, starting at 1:00 p.m. Lasell will host conference leading Albertus Magnus College on Saturday February 11th at 3pm.