Boston, Mass. - The Suffolk University Men's Basketball team dropped the opener of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) schedule as the Johnson & Wales Wildcats defeated the Rams, 95-80 Saturday afternoon at the Regan Gymnasium.
Sophomore Lamonte Thomas (Providence, R.I.) had 25 points going 8-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-7 from beyond the arc to lead the Wildcats to victory. Sophomore Calvin Jones (Providence, R.I.) also had 20 points, connecting on 10 shots from the floor.
Freshman Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) posted his fourth double-double of the season, collecting a season-high 22 rebounds to go along with 18 points. Freshman Nolan DiPanfilo (Saugus, Mass.) had 16 points for the Rams as well going 7-for 11 from the field, while sophomore Luke Barrett (Cincinnati, Ohio) had 15 points of the bench for Suffolk.
The difference in the game was the press for the Wildcats who managed to for 19 Rams' turnover in the game. Johnson & Wales managed to score 34 points off of Suffolk turnover.
Suffolk outrebounded Johnson & Wales 46-37 in the game, in large part due to Pepdjonovic who had 16 defensive rebounds in the game.
Junior Louis Ferreras (Providence, R.I.) also had 14 points, while freshman Matt Williams (Mount Kisco, N.Y) had 11. Senior Paul Nicholson (Halifax, N.C) was the leading rebound for the Wildcats with eight, despite being in foul trouble for much of the game.
The win pushes Johnson & Wales record to 3-4 (1-0 GNAC) who will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to Nashua N.H. to take on Rivier College in a GNAC matchup. Suffolk falls to 4-3 (0-1 GNAC) and will look to get back on track on Thursday night as they host Nichols College in a non-conference matchup at the Regan Gymnasium beginning at 7:30pm.