NEWTON, Mass. – The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team fell on Thursday night to Lasell by a 90-80 final in a key Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) matchup. With the loss the Chargers fall to 1-8 outside of New London and 8th in the standings. 

Rapid Recap:

• First year Sean Peterson (Chester, N.H.) and junior Mike Joanou (Burbank, Calif.) started the game strong with back-to-back threes as Colby-Sawyer jumped ahead 8-0. A pair of buckets followed by junior Chaz Cullum (Omaha, Neb.) as Colby-Sawyer jumped the lead quickly to 12-2. Marcus Lewis kept the Lasers alive scoring the first 14 points for Lasell as they eventually took the lead at 17-16 with 11:37 to play in the first half. Junior Bullen Taban (Phoenix, Ariz.) tied the game at 19-19 netting a three, followed by a pair of free throws by junior Cha'Mar Martin (Columbia, S.C.) to give CSC the lead once again. The Lasers responded in the next stretch taking a 39-32 lead, before junior Jaisan Parker (Durham, N.C.) stopped the run with a jumper. Another jumper by junior Nick Grant (Houston, Texas) kick started a closing 9-0 run as the Chargers trailed by a 44-43 margin into the break. 
• Peterson netted a three to give the visitors the lead once more to kick off the second half, but the Lasers added the next six points to get the lead right back. Cullum and Peterson kept the Chargers close in the next stretch, but the three-pointers for the Lasers were the difference taking a 61-53 lead with 11:01 to play. Martin finished a fast break bucket to keep the game within six, but the Lasers struck again with a 14-8 run to hold a 12 point advantage. Taban threw down another dunk to start a Charger run, but the Lasers kept answering keeping the game at 81-75 with 2:37 to play. The teams would trade buckets the rest of the way as Colby-Sawyer would only get to within seven points over the final 1:30 as the Lasers picked up the win. 

Inside the Numbers:

• Cullum led the Charger scoring with 14 points (7-9 FG), with five assists, five boards and four steals. Taban notched another double-double with 13 points (4-9 FG, 1-1 3PT, 4-9 FT), 12 rebounds and a block. Parker tallied 12 points (5-5 FG, 1-1 3PT, 1-1 FT), while Joanou added 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-3 3PT) and one rebound. 
• Lewis had a huge game with 35 points (15-23 FG, 2-7 3PT, 3-4 FT), seven rebounds and four steals. Che Hanks added 18 points (5-16 FG, 2-6 3PT, 6-6 FT), six assists and three rebounds. 
• The Chargers turned the ball over 21 times compared to just 11 from the Lasers. 
• The Chargers currently sit in the 8th seed in the GNAC Playoff bracket tied with Regis with five games remaining on the schedule.

Up Next: 
The Chargers will head back home on Saturday to take on Anna Maria at 3:00 PM.

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