Junior Lamonte Thomas (Providence, R.I.) scored 39 points to lead the Johnson & Wales Wildcats (3-3, 1-0 GNAC) to a 96-88 victory over the Suffolk University Rams (3-5, 1-1 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Colin Halpin (Melrose, Mass.) record a double double with 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Rams while sophomore Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) scored 22 points.

A 15-4 Wildcats run late in the second half would doom the Rams as they saw a 10-point lead disappear. Suffolk came out of the intermission quick with a 13-3 run of their own early in the second half and held their biggest lead of the contest with twelve minutes remaining as Pepdjonovic put in a lay-in for Suffolk to give them a 66-56 lead.

Junior Mike Harris (Providence, R.I.) would put the Wildcats up 76-74 with 5:16 remaining as he connected on a three-pointer after a quick pass from Thomas.

Junior Mike Gibbons (Ringwood, N.J.) would connect on one of his four three points with two minutes remaining to make it a one-point game at 85-84, but the Wildcats would go 6-for-8 in the closing minutes of the game from the free throw line, mixed in with a three-pointer from junior Calvin Jones (Providence, R.I.) to preserve the victory.

Gibbons finished the game with 14 points for Suffolk, while senior Allan Ray (Lynn, Mass.) had 10 points and five assists.

The biggest difference in the game turned out to be turnovers as the smaller Wildcats were able to force 22 Suffolk turnovers creating 27 points for themselves.

Both teams shot over fifty percet from the field in the game, as the Rams shot 57.4 percent, while Johnson & Wales shot 50.7.

The Wildcats had four players finish in double digits in scoring. Jones and senior Louis Ferreras (Providence, R.I.) each had eleven points, while senior Darren Faust (Queens, N.Y.) had 20.

Johnson & Wales will be back in action on Wednesday as they travel to St. Joseph's College of Maine in a GNAC matchup. Suffolk will travel to Eastern Connecticut State University on Monday for a 7:00pm contest.