NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 8, 2020 – The Colby-Sawyer men's basketball team hung on for a 72-68 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over Lasell on Saturday afternoon.

Colby-Sawyer improves to 10-11 overall and 4-3 in the GNAC. The Chargers will travel to Rivier on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. rematch with the Raiders. Colby-Sawyer defeated Rivier 83-59 in December. Lasell drops to 8-13 overall and 5-2 in conference play. The Lasers play at Albertus Magnus on Wednesday with a tip scheduled for 8 p.m.

With the score tied at 68-68, enior Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) made a driving layup to put Colby-Sawyer in front by a bucket with 30.5 seconds left. The Lasers couldn't convert on their next possession and Coffey hit two more free throws down the stretch to secure the 72-68 victory.

Senior Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) led Colby-Sawyer with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Coffey added 19 points, while sophomore Terrence Harvey Jr. (Smyrna, Ga.) scored 13.

Lasell was paced by a 22-point effort from sophomore EJ Day (Norwalk, Conn.). He added eight rebounds and eight assists. Junior Kevin Vanderhorst (Lawrence, Mass.) posted a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Kevin Nunez (Dorchester, Mass.) played all 40 minutes to finish with 14 points and seven rebounds.  

Lasell began the contest on a 7-2 run to force an early Colby-Sawyer timeout. The Chargers came out of the break with two buckets in a row to knot the game at 7-7. The game see-sawed over the next several minutes with multiple lead changes and ties.

The Lasers led 22-21 with 6:41 left in the first before a Bean jumper put Colby-Sawyer back on top. The Chargers later used a 7-0 spurt, capped by a thunderous dunk by Bean, to take a 32-25 lead with three minutes to go in the frame. Colby-Sawyer took its largest lead of the half after a Jake Lorman (Rutland, Vt.) reverse layup put the home team in front 34-27 with two minutes on the clock. Lasell ended the stanza on a 5-2 run, but Colby-Sawyer took a 36-21 lead into the break.

Bean had 14 points to lead all players in the first, while Harvey Jr. chipped in 11 points. Vanderhorst put in 10 points for the Lasers.

A Harvey Jr. layup gave Colby-Sawyer its largest lead of the game, 59-46, with 12:07 left to play in regulation. Lasell used the next six minutes to chip away and hold the Chargers off the board to knot the game at 59-59.

The Chargers went in front 65-64 on a Coffey layup with four minutes to play. The teams then traded free throws for the next couple of minutes. With the score tied at 68-68, Coffey made a driving layup to put Colby-Sawyer in front by a bucket with 30.5 seconds left. The Lasers couldn't convert on their next possession and Coffey hit two more free throws down the stretch to secure the 72-68 victory.

Colby-Sawyer shot 44.4% from the field, while Lasell made 37.5% of its shots. The rebounds were even at 38 and the Chargers held a 40-40 advantage in the paint.

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