PROVIDENCE, R.I. – February 14, 2024 – The Dean College men's basketball team earned an important 67-61 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory at Johnson & Wales (JWU) Wednesday evening.

The Bulldogs (9-15, 5-8 GNAC) will conclude the regular season at home on Saturday at 3 p.m. against Saint Joseph's (Maine). JWU (7-16, 4-9 GNAC) travels to Regis on Saturday for a 3 p.m. regular season finale.

Senior AJ Weston (Kansas City, Mo.) led Dean with 17 points and four assists. Sophomore Moussa Berete (Richmond, Va.) finished with 13 points, four rebounds and three assists. Junior Paris Smith (Chicago, Ill.) notched a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Harlan Nichols (Las Vegas, Nev.) also scored 10 points. Senior Jayden Madise (Palmdale, Calif.) added 11 rebounds.

JWU received a game best 20 points from Aireus Raspberry. Josh Zangerle contributed 17 points. Izaiah Shaw-Glen came away with a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bulldogs raced out to a 13-4 lead in the first six minutes of action. Dean later led 22-14 after an Isaiah Williams (Durham, N.C.) trey midway through the half. JWU answered with a 13-0 run, in the next four minutes, to take a 27-22 lead. The Wildcats held the lead for the remainder of the frame and led 34-29 at the break.

The home team increased its lead to 43-34, 2:20 into the second half after a Raspberry layup. The Dean deficit ballooned to 11 points (49-38) shortly after, but the Bulldogs responded with an 11-0 spurt to tie the score on a pair of Smith free throws. The teams went back-and-forth for the next few minutes.

Trailing 56-55 with 6:21 left to play, Weston hit a pull-up jumper to give Dean the lead, which they would not relinquish. Senior Charles Walker (Princeton, N.C.) hit a big three-pointer to put Dean on top by eight with 3:37 left. JWU cut the deficit to three points with two minutes to go, but Berete drilled a long ball with 33 seconds on the clock to give the Bulldogs a 67-61 lead, which would be the final score.

Each team finished the night with 27 made baskets. Dean had a 7-5 edge in made three-pointers and a 6-2 advantage in made free throws to make up the final margin. The Bulldogs also held a 39-36 edge on the glass.