FRANKLIN, Mass. – January 28, 2023 – The Dean College men's basketball team earned a 74-65 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over Lasell on Saturday afternoon inside Pieri Gymnasium.

Dean (13-6, 8-4 GNAC) plays at Johnson & Wales on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Lasell (7-11, 4-7 GNAC) has a 5 p.m. tip at Elms on Tuesday.

Junior Malik Spearman (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks to lead the Bulldogs. Senior Mark Blair (Rosedale, N.Y.) flirted with a triple-double with 19 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists. Junior Jayden Madise (Palmdale, Calif.) added 12 points.  Junior Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) contributed 12 rebounds and four blocks.

Lasell graduate student EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.), the nation's leading scorer with 26.1 points per game, finished with 32 points on 11-of-25 shooting. Freshman Quinton Partee Jr. (Roswell, Ga.) posted a double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Marcus Lewis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) had seven points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench.

The first 13 minutes of action was played within one possession with three ties and five lead changes. Dean then took a 16-12 lead on a Blair jumper with 7:31 on the clock. The Bulldogs pushed the advantage to eight after a three-point play by Spearman with 2:07 to play in the half. Lasell ended the frame on an 8-4 run, including a couple of long balls from Day, to pull within 32-28 at the half. Day had 12 points for Lasell, while Spearman put in 11 for Dean. The Bulldogs had a 32-16 advantage in rebounds.

Lasell opened the second half on another 8-4 run to tie the game at 36-36. Dean responded with a 12-0 run, capped by a Madise fastbreak layup, for a 48-36 lead with 14 minutes left to play. The Lasers answered with an impressive 16-4 run over the next 5+ minutes to knot the game once again a 52-52. The Bulldogs were able to take a 58-55 lead with a Charles Walker (Princeton, N.C.) and would hold the lead for the remainder of the game. Day scored 20 of the Lasers' 37 second half points. Spearman scored 11, while Blair had 10 for the Bulldogs.

Dean controlled the glass throughout the game to finish with a 56-40 margin in rebounding. The Bulldogs also had 27 second chance points off 24 offensive boards. Dean scored 52 points in the paint.