BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball put together a well-balanced team effort to cruise past Roger Williams, 83-51, in its fall semester finale Tuesday night at Regan Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 83 | Roger Williams 51
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-4) | Roger Williams (5-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk climbed out of a 10-2 hole that Roger Williams built early as four different players scored to trim the margin to two, 10-8. The Hawks kept them there, however, as the visitors went on a 7-2 run to take a 17-10 edge over Suffolk.
A pair of free throws from Thomas Duffy jump started an 8-0 Suffolk spurt capped off by a driving lay-up from Michael Hagopian that put the blue-and-gold for the first time on the night, 18-17, at the 9:39 mark.
Back-and-forth action ensued before Suffolk coupled two steals together that turned into a pair of Rams' hoops Rams' that put them ahead, 22-19. The hosts used the transition buckets as momentum and scored seven straight points to stretch their advantage to 29-19 with 4:10 remaining in the first frame.
The Rams limited the Hawks to a set of freebies and one baby jumper the remainder of the way for the half to hold onto a 34-23 cushion at the break.
Suffolk controlled the opening portion of the second stanza and slowly built its lead to 20 points. Three consecutive triples, all of which came off the roll at the top of the key, from Hagopian secured the 50-30 Suffolk score with 13:10 left on the clock.
Hagopian's hot hands buoyed the Rams the rest of the way as used the energy from the shooting streak to cruise to the 83-51 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Hagopian's 19 points paced Suffolk's scoring, which saw 12 of its 14 players who took the hardwood etch at least one point in the outing. The senior shooting guard went 7-for-14 from the field, including 5-for-8 from downtown to finish with his game-high in points.
- DiPrizio added a spark off the bench with a 14-point, seven-rebound, two-block performance behind a 6-for-8 showing from the floor.
- Duffy was on the brink of a double-double with 12 points and nine boards with three dimes and three steals as well.
- George Grillakis provided nine points, three caroms and one takeaway.
- Suffolk picked up the pace in the second half to finish the night shooting 54.0 percent (34-63), 37.5 percent (9-24) from three-point range and 66.7 percent (6-9) from the free throw line.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk and Roger Williams met for the 11th time overall and first since 2012.
- The Rams and Hawks tangled for the first-time with Jeff Juron on Suffolk's bench.
- The blue-and-gold moved to 5-6 all-time versus RWU.
- DiPrizio had a season-high 14 points, reaching double figures for the first time this year and first time since Jan. 7, 2017.
- Connor Byrne put together career highs in points (8) and field goals made (4).
- Jarret Byrne produced a personal-best in points (5) and field goals made (2).
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Suffolk is sidelined for three weeks for finals and the holidays. The Rams return to action Dec. 29-30 at the Naples Shootout.