NEWTON, Mass.—The Norwich University men's basketball team suffered a 91-70 loss to Lasell College in the opening game of 2013-14 Great Northeast Athletic Conference action, despite a game-high 30 points from senior Tom McDonald (Groton, Mass.).

With the loss, the Cadets fall to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in GNAC play, while the win boosts the Lasers to 2-3 and 1-0 against league opponents.

McDonald totaled his game-high effort on 10-18 shooting from the floor, including 6-11 from three-point range, and a 4-4 effort from the free-throw line. Junior Evan Tullar (Chelsea, Vt.) chipped in with 11 points, while sophomore Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) added nine points.

Lasell saw a team-best 24 points from Clyde Niba. Richard O'Brien and Brandon Ganesh also had double-digit performances, tallying 17 and 12 points, respectively.

The biggest scoring difference between the two teams was points off the bench, as the Lasell bench combined for 24 points, while the Norwich reserves tallied 16 points.

Lasell used a 10-2 run to break open a 7-7 tie as the hosts built a 17-9 lead just over five minutes into the contest. Norwich answered with a 13-0 spurt helped by eight points from McDonald to take a 22-17 lead with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half.

A Lasers basket momentarily halted the visitors, but McDonald drilled his third straight triple to give Norwich a 25-19 edge. Clyde Niba knocked down back-to-back three pointers for Lasers, tying the game at 25-25 and when Jeremy Daniel converted a layup off a Norwich turnover, the hosts went in front 27-25. Lasell closed the half with a 15-6 run, taking a 42-31 lead into the intermission.

Lasell came out of the locker room firing, and used a 20-5 run in the opening five minutes of the first half to build a 62-36 advantage. O' Brien sandwiched a pair of three pointers around a four-point play in the run for the Lasers that was capped by a Jeremy Daniel trifecta. Lasell saw their lead climb to 80-50 with just under nine minutes remaining and the Cadets would get no closer than 16 the rest of the way in the 91-70 victory for the Lasers. 

Norwich connected on 43.3 percent (26-60) of shots from the floor, while Lasell hit 47.3 percent (35-74) from the floor.

The Cadets return to action on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. against UMaine Augusta to kick off the men's side of the 2013 Ed Hockenbury Classic. An 8:00 p.m. game between Trinity College and Worcester State will follow.