The Suffolk University Men's Basketball team secured their spot in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) playoffs with a 78-65 victory over the Mount Ida College Mustangs on Tuesday evening.

Senior Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass.) scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Rams offensively, while fellow senior Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) put his name is the GNAC record books as the league's all-time leading rebounder. Pepdjonovic recorded 16 points on the evening and tallied 19 rebounds bringing his four-year career total to 1,208. Pepdjonovic surpasses Albertus Magnus College's Ray Askew '12 who held the previous mark at 1,192.

Suffolk would the lead throughout the majority of the contest as a 13-3 run late in the first half would give them a 15-point lead, 39-24 at the 2:53 mark when Pepdjonovic put in a layup in the paint from a feed by Torres.

The Rams would enter halftime with their biggest point margin, a 45-28 spread when freshman Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) knocked down a free-shot to send both teams into the break.

The Mustangs would make things interesting coming out in the second half putting together an 11-2 three minute run as one point separated the two teams when freshman John Fortes (New Bedford, Mass.) sunk a three-pointer to make it a 51-50 game with 13:04 on the game clock.

The seniors would take over for the Rams as Pepdjonovic connected on back-to-back layups followed by a big three-point basket from Colin Halpin (Melrose, Mass.). Torres capped it off with a layup as the Rams regained an eight-point edge with ten minutes remaining at 60-52.

Mount Ida would continue to creep back as freshman Brandon Castro (Dorchester, Mass.) conntected on a lay-up and then made it a three-point play with his bonus free-throw shot after being fouled to bring the Mustangs within five points.

Unni answered there with his only three-pointer of the period to give the Rams a 68-59 lead at the 4:25 mark.

Torres would close out the game for the Rams scoring seven points over the final minute of regulation as he connected on one of his two shots from three-point land in the waning seconds before sinking four consecutive free-throws.

Alongside his 22 points on the evening, Torres also collected a season-high eight rebounds on the glass.

Unni finished the night with 14 points and a team-high four assists.

Freshman Adam Chick (Northbrook, Ill.) was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor as he chipped in with eight points, while Halpin was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc in a nine point evening for the Rams.

Fortes finished the game with a team-high 21 points for the Mustangs, while junior Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.) was 5-for-6 in the second half for Mount Ida en route to a 15-point night.

The loss drops the Mustangs to a 3-14 GNAC record on the season and 7-17 mark in 2012-13.

The win clinches the number six position for the Rams in the upcoming GNAC playoffs starting on Tuesday of next week. Suffolk moves to a 7-9 mark, while they are 9-14 on the year.

The Rams will be back in action on Thursday evening as they travel across the Boston Common to take on Emerson College at 7:00pm in a rescheduled GNAC contest that was originally to be played on Saturday but was pushed back to this weekend's winter storm. Suffolk will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a GNAC matinee as they host Rivier University as part of senior day beginning at 1:00pm.