Hot Shooting Sends Men's Hoops over Mustangs 88-74

NEWTON, Mass. – The Lasell College men's basketball team earned an 88-74 victory against crosstown rival Mount Ida College on Saturday afternoon at the Mount Ida Athletic Center. The Lasers jump to 17-6 overall and 14-2 in the GNAC, while the Mustangs drop to 11-12 and 7-9 in the conference.

STAT LEADERS FOR LASELL

Senior forward Pat Marchand (Cranston, R.I.) paced the Lasell offense with 18 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists on 8-for-12 shooting overall. Senior forward Richard O'Brien (Manchester, N.H.) dropped a team-high 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting, capped by 15 points from outside the arc. Junior guard Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.) tallied 20 points, while sophomore guard Scott Arsenault (Walpole, Mass.) rounded out double digit scoring with 14 points.

STAT LEADERS FOR MOUNT IDA

For the Mustangs, Jayson Clark (Austin, Texas) netted 15 points and three assists, while Joey DeFillippi (Bristol, Conn.) tallied 11 points. Kevin Conner (Mansfield, Mass.) led the Mustangs on the glass with seven rebounds, to go with six points, while John Oliver (N. Babylon, N.Y.) added seven points off the bench.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Mustangs fought off an early deficit to tie the game by halftime and then built a six point lead halfway through the second half, but couldn't stop the hot shooting of the Lasers, who made six three-pointers in the final frame, led by O'Brien who hit 4-7 from deep after halftime.

The visitors jumped out to a 21-13 lead and would hold as much as an 11-point advantage in the first half, in which Marchand scored ten points and the Lasers did not take a free throw attempt.

Foul shots helped pull the Mustangs back into the game, as they went 12-15 at the charity stripe in the first half, cutting the deficit to five before a Brendan Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) three-pointer and an Errald Jordine (Stamford, Conn.) dunk on an offensive rebound tied the game at 29.

Jordine scored ten points and grabbed six rebounds off of the Mount Ida bench, and he and Dennis Ross (Portland, Maine) combined to put the Mustangs ahead by five points at 51-46 with 11:38 left in the game. DeFillippi's layup gave the Mustangs the six point cushion, their biggest of the day, but Arsenault nailed a three-pointer at the other end to cut the lead in half.

Three-pointers would be the key down the stretch for the Lasers, who took the lead back on a three by O'Brien and never trailed again. Another three by O'Brien stretched the lead to 7 points (70-63) with 3:14 to play, and just over a minute later, he did the same to extend the advantage to ten points.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

The Lasers outshot the Mustangs on all spots of the floor, but came up a board short as the Mustangs held a 38-37 advantage on rebounds. On the transition, the Lasers dished out 20 assists to Ida's 10, and grabbed 18 points from the Mustangs' turnovers.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lasers host Emmanuel at 7:00 pm on Tuesday evening, while. Mount Ida plays their final regular season home game on the same evening against Albertus Magnus at 6:00 pm.