BOSTON – Michael Hagopian put on a show, scoring 37 points, to lead the Suffolk men's basketball team to a 101-86 victory over Mount Ida Saturday afternoon inside Regan Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 101, Mt. Ida 86
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-7, 6-3 GNAC) | Mt. Ida (9-10, 3-7 GNAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk trailed by 12, 29-17, at the midway point of the opening stanza before Hagopian heated up from the outside. The junior guard's first three of the afternoon jump started a 16-3 Suffolk swing that flipped the switch and put the Rams ahead 33-32 with 6:59 to play in the first frame. During that stretch, Hagopian made two triples with Jim Djema and Brendan Mulson each getting in on the action from downtown.
The Mustangs tried to tame the Rams' run with a timeout and initially it did, but Hagopian's third three of the day started things up again for the blue-and-gold, who put together nine unanswered points to put their edge to 44-37 with just under five minutes remaining in the first half.
A back-and-forth affair ensued from there as Suffolk headed into the locker room on pace for 100 points, leading Mt. Ida, 56-48.
The Mustangs burst out of the games in the second stanza, scoring the first seven points to pull within one, 56-55, thanks a trey from Errald Jordine. A traditional three-point play by Thomas Duffy ended the consecutive scoring streak for the visitors, but not for long as they came back and locked the game 61-61 at the 16:48 minute mark as John Oliver buried a three.
Hagopian took things into his own hands once again. This time scoring within the three-point arc, followed that bucket with one behind-the-line and two free throws for a seven-point swing in the Rams favor.
Suffolk slowly built a 10-point margin, but the Mustangs hung around for a while. The Rams did not let Mt. Ida successfully complete the comeback, keeping the Mustangs at an arm's length away the remainder of the way to close out the conference victory, 101-86.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Hagopian's hot hands featured a 13-for-19 showing from the floor and an 8-for-12 performance from three-point land to finish the day with a game-high 37 points.
- Duffy had an all-around offensive game with the sophomore scoring 20 points to go along with 10 dimes and three steals.
- Mulson was one rebound shy of a double-double effort, dropping 22 points, shooting 6-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-6 from three, while contributing nine boards on the defensive end.
- As a team, Suffolk shot 54.8 percent (34-62) from the field, 46.4 percent (13-28) from three-point range and a 74.1 connection rate (20-27) at the charity stripe.
- The Mustangs, who were led by John Oliver's 28-point reserve effort, out rebounded the Rams, 41-33.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk defeated Mt. Ida for the first time since an 81-75 victory over the Mustangs Feb. 9, 2016.
- The Rams won their eighth contests all-time with the Mustangs in the programs 19th-ever meeting.
- Suffolk strung together three consecutive conference wins for the first time since matching that number Jan. 21-26, 2013, with victories over Norwich (78-58), Rivier (69-66) and Mount Ida (84-74).
- With 11 victories, Suffolk has recorded the most wins since matching that number in the 2005-06 season when the Rams went 11-15 overall.
- Suffolk, who improved to 8-0 at home, has put together the most wins in front of its home crowd since going 8-3 on its own hardwood in the 2001-02 campaign.
- Hagopian eclipsed the 30-point plateau for the third time in his career, setting a new personal best with 37. The 37 points are the most by any Rams since Sam Nwadike dropped 39 in a thrilling 84-82 win over Anna Maria Dec. 4, 2013.
- Duffy dished out a career-best 10 assists becoming the first Ram to do so since Kevin Querusio set up 10 shots at Rivier Feb. 1, 2017.
- Duffy notched his first collegiate double-double with 10 assists and 20 points.
- Duffy scored 20-plus points for the seventh time this season.
- Mulson had his third straight 20-plus point performance.
- Suffolk surpassed 100 points for the first time under Juron and first time since defeating Wheelock, 100-85, Nov. 22, 2014.
- Juron kept his usual starters of Djema, Hagopian, Duffy, Mulson and Querusio. That combination improved to 11-7.
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Suffolk wraps up January action on the road as it heads out on the road Tuesday (Jan. 30) for a 7:30 p.m. tilt at Anna Maria.