MBB: Lasell falls to Albertus Magnus in GNAC playoffs

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Albertus Magnus College took a 20-point lead in the first half and Lasell College was unable to recover Tuesday evening as the top-seeded Falcons defeated the eighth-seeded Lasers, 99-79, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball quarterfinal at the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

The Falcons (18-7) advance to the semifinal round on Thursday, when they will host fourth-seeded Emmanuel College (18-7) as the Saints downed fifth-seeded Colby-Sawyer College in their quarterfinal, 90-83. The Lasers wind up the season at 7-19.

Freshman Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) scored 23 points off the bench to lead the hosts, making 9-of-18 shots, including 5-of-10 from three-point land. Sophomore Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.) added 16 points (6-of-8 shooting) and junior Jahmerikah Green-Younger (Norwalk, Conn.) chipped in with 10 as the Falcons eliminated the Lasers from the GNAC playoffs for the fourth year in a row.

Junior Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.) scored a game-high 33 points to top the Lasers, while sophomore Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) tallied 15 points and senior Lamont Gooden (Orlando, Fla.) chipped in with eight points and four rebounds.

The Lasers had an early 7-5 lead after a layup by sophomore Vic Collazo (Clearwater, Fla.). The Falcons had a three-point margin (22-19) just past the midway point of the first half, but went on a 21-4 burst over the next five minutes to push their lead to 20 points (43-23) with four minutes on the clock. The home team took a 53-31 lead into the locker room.

Lasell got the deficit under 20 points early in the second half but Albertus went on another run to take a commanding lead and the Lasers didn't threaten the rest of the night.

Both teams shot 54 percent from the field in the game, Lasell making 30-of-55 shots (54.5%) and Albertus Magnus connecting on 40-of-74 (54.1%).

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