NEWTON, Mass. – Sophomore forward Liam Jacobs (Plainfield, Conn.) made a layup with one second remaining to lift Lasell College (3-10, 1-0 GNAC) past Saint Joseph's College (10-3, 0-1 GNAC), 98-97, in what was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener for both programs on Tuesday night.
For the Monks, the loss snaps a nine-game winning streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In a game featuring 11 lead changes and six tie scores, Saint Joseph's seemed to be in control late and held a 91-84 advantage after senior guard Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) made a layup with 4:25 on the clock. The Lasers proceeded to make it a one-point game (93-92) with an 8-2 run, which was capped by a Joe O'Brien (Saugus, Mass.) field goal at the 2:04 mark.
Mileikis hit a pair of freebies with 25 seconds left to provide his team with a 97-94 lead, but Lasell junior Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass.) converted a layup 11 seconds later to make it a 97-96 game. After a missed free throw attempt on the front end of a 1-and-1, the Lasers rushed downcourt where sophomore guard Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) missed a jumper with six seconds remaining, but Jacobs pulled down the offensive rebound and scored from under the rim to lift his team to the thrilling victory.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Lasell held a 17-8 advantage in points in the paint…The Monks held the advantage in points off turnovers (17-6) and bench points (19-15) in the setback.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Mileikis scored 22 points with seven rebounds and a pair of assists
- Sophomore guard Jack Casale (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) notched his fifth double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds
- Senior guard Darian Berry (Rochester, N.H.) added 16 points
- Freshman forward David Keohan (West Newfield, Maine) was 4-5 from the floor and 5-5 from the FT line with a career-high 14 points
- Senior forward Marc Corey (Londonderry, N.H.) chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds
LEADERS – LASELL:
- Masciarelli was 15-28 from the field with 39 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals
- Nunez made 11-of-24 shots and netted 25 points with nine caroms
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 13-14 in the history of the series with Lasell College.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host GNAC-rival Albertus Magnus College on Thursday at 7:30 PM.
