The Suffolk University Men's Basketball team dropped an overtime thriller across the Boston Common falling to Emerson College 73-71 on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.
The Rams erased a 15-point deficit with ten minutes remaining in regulation but fell just short in the extra period as they fall to a 9-15 mark on the year and 7-10 record in GNAC play.
Senior Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) recorded another double-double as he finished the night with a team-high 16 points and had 10 rebounds for the Rams.
Trailing 58-43 at the 9:55 mark in the second half the Rams went on a 18-3 run over the remainder of the period to draw even at 61-61 as time expired in regulation.
Pepdjonovic had nine points down the stretch, including a huge three-point bonus play with three minutes remaining when he put in a layup and then knocked down his ensuing free-throw following a foul as the Rams closed in to the Lions making it a 61-57 game.
Suffolk would hold Emerson scoreless for the final 3:37 of the contest before senior Colin Halpin (Melrose, Mass.) evened the game with 41 seconds remaining as he connected on a jumper with a feed coming from freshman Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.).
Emerson opened up the extra period with the first score as freshman Brian Hurley (South Boston, Mass.) put in two his eight points in the game. Junior Jon Goldberg (Stowe, Vt.) then put the Lions up by three as he knocked down one of two free-throws.
Halpin would answer by evening things back up as he took advantage of an Emerson foul. After putting in a layup, Halpin would connect from the line to draw things even again.
Both teams would go back and forth before junior James Rhodes (Hebron, Conn.) hit a three-pointer to put Emerson up for good at 71-68 with forty-nine seconds left. Rhodes would close out the game sinking a pair of free-throws as he finished the night with 15 points.
Freshman Michael Thorpe (Newton, Mass.) led all scorers on the evening with 17 points for Emerson.
Goldberg nearly missed a triple-double as scored nine points, and lead all players with 11 rebounds and also in assists with eight.
The win improves Emerson's season mark to 15-9 as they move to a 13-4 GNAC record.
Halpin finished the night with 14 points for the Rams, while Unni netted 11. Both players had four assists on the evening, while Halpin also recorded a team-high 11 rebounds.
Freshman Aury Leyva (Miami, Fla.) was 3-for-6 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line en route to a 10-point effort for the Rams on Thursday.
Both teams will round out their GNAC regular season this upcoming season, and may see each other in the quarterfinals of next week's GNAC playoffs.
Prior to that Emerson will travel to St. Joseph's College of Maine for a 3:00pm matchup with the Monks.
The Rams host Rivier University at the Regan Gymnasium in a Saturday afternoon matinee beginning at 1:00pm. Prior to tip-off all five senior members will be honored as part of senior day.