Lasers Beam Past AMCATS, 99-94

NEWTON, Mass.—The Anna Maria College men's basketball team had five players score in double-figures but it was not enough as they suffered a 99-94 loss to the Lasers of Lasell College on Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

With the loss, Anna Maria falls to 7-6 overall and 3-3 in league play, while Lasell stands at 8-4 overall and a flawless 5-0 in GNAC action. On Thursday, Lasell took down perennial GNAC power Albertus Magnus for the Falcons' first league loss in over a year.

AMCAT LEADERS

Senior Patrick Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) netted 23 points, dished out nine assists, and tallied a team-high six rebounds for Anna Maria. Classmate Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) chipped in with 18 points in a 7-for-12 effort from the floor, while fellow senior Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) scored 16 points. Both David Jean-Louis (Miramar, Fla.) and Corey Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) finished with 13 points each.

LASELL LEADERS

Armin Omanovic netted a game-high 30 points to lead the Lasers to the home victory. Scott Arsenault added 22 points, followed by Richard O'Brien with 21 points. Pat Marchand added eight points and a game-high eight rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The contest was back-and-forth for nearly all 40 minutes, as the two teams exchanged 11 lead changes and saw seven tied scores. With the score knotted at 87-87 and 1:54 left to play in regulation, Lasell's Arsenault scored four points on a costly AMCAT foul on a made three-pointer to open up the game. Anna Maria would run out of time to dig out of the deficit and allowed Lasell to score 12 points in the final two minutes.

Anna Maria trailed for most of the second half but never by more than 10 points. Lasell's largest lead came with 6:55 left on the clock following a five-point stretch for Yordan Villalon following a three-pointer and two free-throws. Anna Maria wasted no time erasing the double-digit lead, as they answered with a three-pointer by Jean-Louis, layups by LK Metz (West Yarmouth, Mass.) and Bradanese, and a three-pointer by Delorey to tie the score at 80-80.

The AMCATS completed the 12-0 run with another layup by Metz to briefly take the lead at 82-80, but the two teams would trade control five times over the next minute before Lasell took control for good.

FINAL COMPARISONS

Anna Maria shot 53.2% from the floor, while Lasell saw only a 46.7 percent effort. The Lasers dominated three-point territory, shooting 75.8% from behind the arc, while the AMCATS shot 69.9%., and held a 38-30 advantage on the glass.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both teams square off again on Wednesday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. for another GNAC test at the Fuller Center at Anna Maria.