Lasers Down Regis 79-75 in Men's Basketball Home Opener

NEWTON, Mass. (11/15/16) -- Paced by three scorers in double figures, the Lasell College men's basketball team jumped out to a 12-point lead at halftime and led by as many as 17 points in Tuesday night's season opener, as the Lasers held on in the end for a 79-75 win over Regis College in the Athletic Center.

The Lasers move to 1-0 after their first season-opening win since 2011, while the visiting Pride slip to 1-0.

Senior Armin Omanovic (Wilkesboro, N.C.) led Lasell and all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, while classmate John Powell (Ashland, Mass.) and sophomore Tim Blair (Newington, Conn.) also reached double-digits, scoring 18 and 16 points, respectively.

Powell was a force in his Lasell debut as the senior forward also took down 12 rebounds while registering two assists and four of the Lasers' six blocked shots. Blair led Lasell with four assists in the contest, while he and junior Scott Arsenault (Walpole, Mass.) each recorded two steals. 

Four Regis players eclipsed the ten-point mark, led by sophomore Ademola Afonja (Staten Island, N.Y.) with 12, and junior Jawaun Lewis (Jacksonville, Fla.) and sophomore Jordan Seldon (Everett, Mass.) with 11 apiece. Senior Chris Leak Jr. (New Haven, Conn.) came off the bench to post ten points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Lasell scored the first four points of the contest in a three-minute span, then opened up a nine-point lead by the midway marker of the first half. Arsenault hit his first three-pointer of the season just under five minutes into the game to give the Lasers an 11-6 lead.

After the visitors scored four straight points to move within three, Lasell pitched a shutout for more than four minutes as Omanovic drove to the basket for a layup and hit a three in quick succession, forcing Regis to call a timeout with 9:54 remaining. Omanovic knocked down two of his three, three-pointers while shooting 6-of-10 from the field in the opening half.

Regis had three individual scorers post eight second-half points as it opened the frame with six of the first 11 points, eventually outscoring the Lasers by a 46-38 count. The Pride also staged an 11-4 rally in the middle stages of the second, while scoring six straight points to move within five with three minutes to play.

Powell erased Regis' opening run with a layup 91 seconds into the second half, while Omanovic hit from three-point range to give Lasell its largest lead of the night less than four minutes later. Powell hit four field goals over the course of the half, but his four free throws in five attempts were key in sealing the four-point win.

Lasell hit four of its seven tries from distance in the back half with Omanovic, Arsenault, Blair and junior Ryan Jones (North Weymouth, Mass.) each hitting one. The Lasers shot 46.9 percent from the field in the contest, and hit eight of their 16 three-point tries.

The Lasers return to action on Thursday, November 17 when they make the short trip to Babson College to face the No. 3 nationally-ranked Beavers at 7:00 p.m. The Pride are next in action at the Colby College Tip-Off Tournament, first facing Fitchburg State on Friday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m.