The Hawks found themselves deep in a hole earliy in the game and looked like it would be as lopsided as the first in the early going, as Lasell jumped out to a 17-4 lead with 11:50 left in the first half. Roger Williams answered, holding the Lasers to just one basket over the next 6:29, getting to within 19-15 on a pair of Chris Cormier (Trumbull, CT) free throws at the 5:21 mark. Lasell answered with seven unanswered points, including a 3-pointer by rookie reserve Brad Carvoulis (Dracut, MA), that pushed the lead to double digits. Lasell took a 10-point lead into halftime, thanks to Carvoulis' 10 points off the bench. The Hawks got to within five points on five different occasions in the second half, but could not get another basket to get them over the hump, as Lasell junior guard Maxwell Perez (Holyoke, Mass.) scored the game's next two points on four of those occasions.
For Lasell, Perez led all players with 23 points, the day's high-scoring performance. He hit seven-of-13 from the floor and all eight of his free throws. Carvoulis was the only other Laser player in double figures with 14 points. He was perfect from the floor, hitting all five attempts, including both from distance, while going two-for-four from the line. While no Lasell player dominated on the boards individually – junior guard Steve Martinez (Lawrence, MA) led the team with seven – as a team, the Lasers owned a 40-25 advantage on the boards, helping them overcome 21 turnovers.
Roger Williams had three players reach double figures, paced by sophomore Ben Camobreco's (Duxbury, MA) 12 points on five-of-11 from the floor with a 3-pointer. Classmate Dan Gumb (Patterson, NY) added 11 points off the bench, while rookie Mike Woolley (Seattle, Wash.) had 10, including two 3-pointers. Junior co-captain Brandon Parrish (Lincoln, RI) paced the Hawks with seven rebounds.
The Brandeis University and Lasell College men's basketball teams will face off tomorrow in the title game of the Brandeis University Tip-Off tournament after both won semifinal contests.