The Johnson & Wales University men's basketball team posted a 95-77 victory against Suffolk in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at the Harborside Center on Thursday evening.
Johnson & Wales was led by junior Lamonte Thomas (Providence, R.I.) with 27 points, 10 boards and six assists while junior James Folk (Salem, N.H.) had 19 points and five boards in the victory. Senior Darren Faust (Queens, N.Y.) recorded 22 points in the victory for JWU.
Suffolk was paced by sophomore Colin Halpin (Melrose, Mass.) with 28 points and three boards while sophomore Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) had 27 points and 14 boards in the loss for the Rams.
Johnson & Wales dominated the action early in the contest and led 36-16 lead on a layup by Folk with 8:00 left in the first half. The Wildcats led by 26 after a pair of free throws by sophomore Mike Harris (Providence, R.I.) put the team up 43-17 with 5:42 on the clock. Suffolk responded and closed out the half on a 20-9 run and trailed 52-37 heading into the locker room at halftime.
Suffolk continued to chip away at the lead and closed the gap to 91-77 on a layup by Pepdjonociv with 1:53 left in the game. That would be as close as the Rams would get, however as JWU held on for the 95-77 victory.
With the win Johnson & Wales is now 15-6 overall and 12-2 in the GNAC while Suffolk falls to 8-15 for the season and 4-10 in league play. The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, February 12th when they travel to Norwich for a GNAC matchup, starting at 1:00 p.m.
(Story courtesy of Johnson & Wales Athletic Communications)