NEWTON, MA - Lasell College (9-14, 7-9 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's (17-6, 12-4 GNAC), 79-74, in GNAC Men's Basketball action on Saturday. Chris Petzy' 12 (Kensington, NH) netted 18 points and made a trio of threes in the losing effort.

Neither team held a lead of more than nine points in the contest, which featured a whopping 14 lead changes and seven deadlocks. St. Joe's shot 50% (25-50) from the floor and was 20-26 (76.9%) from the charity stripe, but Lasell managed to outwork the Monks by a 41-28 margin on the glass and scored 25 second-chance points in the upset victory. Saint Joseph's grabbed just seven offensive caroms and mustered 9 second-chance points.

For St. Joe's, Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) was 7-9 from the field and scored 17 points, Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) added 13 and Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) tallied 9 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. Rashon Jones '11 (Bridgeport, CT) chipped in with 7 points, 4 caroms, 4 blocks, 3 steals and 3 dimes.

For the Lasers, Javon Williams '12 (Mattapan, MA) recorded 28 points and 16 boards, both game-highs, Charles Horton '10 (Detroit, MI) poured in 13 and Justin Harris '13 (New Orleans, LA) added 12 points and 7 rebounds.

The conference rivals traded blows in the opening 10 minutes of play, as neither team mounted a lead of more than four points during the span. A Petzy trey at the 9:16 mark ignited a 10-2 SJC run that saw the Monks take a game high nine-point lead, 32-23, after Julio Vazquez '13 (Waterbury, CT) capped the surge with a layup  with 5:59 remaining in the first half. The Lasers were 1-8 from the field and 0-2 from the line with a pair of turnovers during the stretch.  

The Lasers' morale obviously wasn't affected by the Monks' outburst, as the hosts managed to put up a 13-3 run over the subsequent 3:54 of play. Williams registered four points, three rebounds with a blocked shot and a steal during the Lasell boost and Lance Theard '13 (New Orleans, LA) drained a jumpshot at the 2:05 mark to close out the hosts' run and give his team its first lead, 36-35, in over 10 minutes of play.

The Lasers and Monks swapped leads five times in the final two minutes of the opening stanza but, with the help of a late Kelley layup, St. Joe's managed to carry a slim 41-40 edge into the locker room.

Williams led all participants with 16 points and 13 rebounds in the first half, while Petzy paced the Monks with 14 of his 18 points in the opening period. St. Joe's shot 57.1% from the field, 60% from three-point range, and 75% from the line while Lasell shot 47.4% overall, 40% from beyond the arc and missed all three freebie attempts in the first half.

Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 48-42 advantage with an early surge in the second stanza and managed to hold the lead until Lasell posted a 9-0 run late to regain the lead, 73-71, after a Horton long ball at the 3:24 mark. The Monks led by seven, 69-62, after O'Brien drained a three with 7:56 to go, but the field goal turned out to be the last for St. Joe's, as the Royal Blue shot a collective 0-8 from the floor and failed to haul in an offensive rebound during the remainder of the contest. Although the Monks were 6-8 from the stripe during the same span and knotted the game on two occasions with clutch efforts from the line, the late surge by the Lasers proved too much to overcome.

St. Joe's shot 50% (25-50) overall, 41.7% (5-12) from three-point distance, and 76.9% (20-26) from the FT line, while Lasell shot 47.9% (35-73) from the field, 25% (5-20) from beyond the arc and 57.1% (4-7) from the charity stripe. For the Monks, the 50 FG attempts is the second-lowest total of the season and the free throw effort marked the fourth time the team has made at least 20 in a game this winter.

Saint Joseph's will host Rivier College (7-15, 4-11 GNAC) on Tuesday at 7:30 PM, while Lasell will travel across town to Mount Ida College for a 6:00 PM tip-off on the same night.

Newspaper Box Score
St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Lasell College
02/13/10 2:00 p.m. at Newton, MA
At Newton, MA
LASELL COLLEGE 79, ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 75
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (17-6, 12-4 GNAC)
Chris Petzy 7-13 1-2 18; Ray Eatmon 7-9 3-5 17; Tyler Kelley 5-9 2-2 13;
Zach O'Brien 3-9 2-3 9; Alberto Rue 2-6 3-4 7; Rashon Jones 0-2 7-8 7; Tom
Ray 0-1 2-2 2; Julio Vazquez 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-50 20-26 75.
LASELL COLLEGE (9-14, 7-9 GNAC)
Javon Williams 14-21 0-1 28; Charles Horton 5-10 0-0 13; Justin Harris 4-10
3-3 12; Sean Joynes 4-8 0-2 8; Deshawn Dell 2-5 1-1 5; Dominik Orlow 2-3 0-0
4; Charles Bennett 2-3 0-0 4; Brett Heimann 1-4 0-0 3; Lance Theard 1-4 0-0
2; Aaron Bray 0-3 0-0 0; Adam Topel 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 35-73 4-7 79.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............   41   34  -   75
Lasell College................   40   39  -   79
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 5-12 (Chris Petzy 3-5; Tyler Kelley 1-4;
Zach O'Brien 1-2; Alberto Rue 0-1), Lasell College 5-20 (Charles Horton 3-8;
Brett Heimann 1-3; Justin Harris 1-4; Dominik Orlow 0-1; Lance Theard 0-2;
Aaron Bray 0-1; Adam Topel 0-1). Fouled out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Lasell
College-None. Rebounds--St. Joseph's (Me.) 28 (Zach O'Brien 5), Lasell
College 41 (Javon Williams 16). Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 14 (Zach O'Brien
3; Rashon Jones 3), Lasell College 10 (Brett Heimann 3). Total fouls--St.
Joseph's (Me.) 11, Lasell College 19. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's
(Me.)-None, Lasell College-None. A-234