MBB: Johnson & Wales too strong for Lasell

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Junior Brian Hogan-Gary (Staten Island, N.Y.) scored a career-high 36 points, including his 1,000th career point, and added 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals Saturday afternoon as Johnson & Wales University topped Lasell College, 90-58, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game at the Wildcat Center.

Hogan-Gary, who ranks third in the conference in scoring (23.1 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg), made 16-of-22 shots from the field to lead the Wildcats. Sophomore Justin Bullock (Spring Valley, N.Y.) added 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting and senior Randall Ferdinand (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) chipped in with 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting. The threesome help the Wildcats shoot 59.1 percent (39-of-66) from the field for the game.

Junior Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.), who is tied for the lead in the GNAC in scoring (23.6 ppg), finished with 17 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomores Dylan Murray (Williston, Fla.) and Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) added nine points each on 4-of-8 shooting. Murray was coming off a career-night on Thursday when he scored 30 points in a win over Emmanuel when he made nine three-point attempts.

Johnson & Wales, the defending GNAC champion and preseason favorite, won its third straight game to pull even at 11-11 overall while improving to 6-2 in conference play. Lasell drops to 5-15 overall and 3-4 in the GNAC.

The Wildcats led wire-to-wire, bursting out of the gate with an 18-3 lead nine minutes in. Ferdinand had six points and Hogan-Gary, Bullock and senior Matt Madoian (North Kingstown, R.I.) had four each in the hot start. Lasell got the margin down to single digits (23-14) after a bucket by senior Lamont Gooden (Orlando, Fla.) with 8:33 to go, but the Wildcats answered with a 16-5 run to push the lead up to 20 points (39-19) with 3:27 to play. Hogan-Gary scored eight points and Madoian added five in that rally.

JWU went on to lead 46-25 at the intermission, and Lasell never got any closer in the second half.

Both teams struggled from the free throw line, with the home team converting just 4-of-8 attempts and Lasell missing all seven of its freebies.

The Lasers return home for three straight home games next week, beginning with a GNAC match-up against Norwich University on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Athletic Center. Johnson & Wales plays its final regular season home game next Saturday, February 9, on Senior Day against GNAC foe Anna Maria College at 3:00 p.m.

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