NEWTON, Mass. – Junior Tim Blair (Newington, Conn) and sophomore Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass) scored 21 points apiece Tuesday evening to lead Lasell College to an 89-64 victory over Saint Joseph's College of Maine in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game at the Lasell Athletic Center.
Blair added 13 rebounds to his 21 points, which included five three-pointers, for his third double-double of the season, while Masciarelli made 9-of-16 field goal attempts. Three other Lasers reached double figures in scoring as senior Dannie Moore (Orlando, Fla.) scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and freshmen Liam Jacobs (Plainfield, Conn.) and Victor Collazo (Clearwater, Fla.) added 11 and 10 points off the bench, respectively.
Junior Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) led all scorers with 23 points for St. Joe's on 9-of-12 shooting, while classmate Darian Berry (Rochester, N.H.) added 14 points and senior Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) chipped in with 10.
The victory pushed Lasell into a tie for third place in the GNAC at 5-2 in conference play (7-9 overall), while St. Joe's slipped to fifth place at 5-3 in the GNAC and 10-7 overall.
Lasell, which managed just 18 points in the first half of its last home game, exploded for 42 points in the first 20 minutes against the Monks. The Lasers got their first double-digit lead (19-8) after a Blair three-pointer just six minutes into the game and led by 18 points midway through the half after a three-ball by Jacobs. The biggest lead was 20 points a minute later, 30-10, and it was a 17-point margin at the break, 42-25.
The home team opened the second half with a 9-2 run to push the margin up to 24 points, 51-27, sparked by a pair of three-pointers by Blair. Lasell led by more than 20 points the rest of the way, including a 33-point margin late in the half before winning by 25.
Lasell shot 55.7 percent from the field, second-best in a game this season, and 43.5 percent from beyond the arc, third-best this year, while holding the visitors to under 40 percent shooting (39.7) for the third straight game.
The Lasers are on the road for their next two games, Thursday at Rivier University (7:00 p.m.) and Saturday at Norwich (1:00 p.m.) St. Joe's returns home to host Regis College Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.