NEWTON, Mass. – February 14, 2023 – The Dean College men's basketball team dropped an 80-69 decision in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) road game at Lasell on Tuesday evening.
The Lasers earn the season split after the Bulldogs picked up a 74-65 home win in January.
Dean (14-10, 9-8 GNAC) concludes the regular season at home on Saturday with a 3 p.m. tip against Regis, who is also 9-8 in the standings. Lasell (12-12, 9-8 GNAC) travels to Albertus Magnus for a regular season finale on Saturday.
Junior
AJ Weston (Kansas City, Mo.) poured in a season-high 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting (4-6 3pt) to lead the Bulldogs. Junior
Malik Spearman (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded his fourth straight double-double and ninth overall with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Junior
Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) also came away with a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Lasell sophomore Conan McCusker (Dorchester, Mass.) led the team with 19 points. Graduate student EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.) finished with 18 points before fouling out. Senior DaVon Bradley (Indianapolis, Ind.) tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Freshman Quinton Partee Jr. (Roswell, Ga.) posted 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Dean got out to a 5-2 lead before a quick eight points by Lasell put the home team on top. The Bulldogs later led 22-18 after a
Mark Blair (Rosedale, N.Y.) layup with 8:06 left to play in the first. The score was then tied at 24-24 when Lasell closed the half on a 21-5 run, behind a strong performance from Day. The Lasers led 45-29 at the break thanks to Day who scored all of his 18 points in the first half.
In the second half, Dean's
AJ Weston would help erase the large deficit by scoring 21 of his game-high 26 points in the final 20 minutes of action. The Bulldogs pulled within single digits after a pair of Greenleaf freebies with less than 13 minutes to play. Dean continued to chip away to eventually come within four points, 71-67, with a little more than two minutes on the clock. Lasell was able to weather the storm by making nine of 10 free throws down the stretch to secure the 80-69 victory.
Neither team shot it well with both sides coming in under 40% from the field. Lasell held a slim 45-41 advantage on the glass.
