The Suffolk University Men's Basketball team suffered an 80-72 defeat in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinals on Tuesday evening to St. Joseph's College of Maine.
The Rams entering the game as the number seven seed hung tight with the Monks through most of the contest but couldn't overcome the conference's second ranked team.

Junior Sam Nwadike (Houston, Tx.) led all players on the evening scoring 25 points for Suffolk including a 4-for-6 performance from three-point land but it wasn't enough as the loss ends the Rams' season.

Junior Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Me.) paced the Monks with 21 points highlighted by a 12-for-14 performance from the free-throw line in the game. Senior Matthew Medeiros (Westport, Mass.) led all players with nine rebounds as he also chipped in with 15 points for the Monks, who now advance to Thursday's semifinal action against number three seed Johnson & Wales University.

After a tight first half of action the Monks were able to push themselves to a 10-point lead with 3:22 before the break when senior Nich Jobin (Westbrook, Me.) put together a three-point play to make it a 30-20 contest. The Rams would answer however closing out the half with a 9-2 run capped off by a three-pointer from sophomore Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) to end the first period of action at a 32-29 score.

St. Joe's would manage to keep their distance from Suffolk through the opening half of the second period until consecutive three-pointers from freshman Chris Williams (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Curtis Casella (Saugus, Mass.) put the Rams out in front 53-52 with 9:54 remaining in regulation. Nwadike would add on to the lead with a layup forty seconds following as Suffolk's three point lead would be their largest margin of difference in the contest.

From there however the Monks would go on a 14-1 scoring run over the next six minutes essentially sealing the fate of the Rams.

Nwadike would score Suffolk's final 12 points in regulation but Suffolk could get no closer than eight points as Simonds was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the closing minutes to secure the win.

Both Williams and Casella added some offense for Suffolk off the bench in the game as the duo combined to knock down six three-pointers. Williams finished with a 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field and 3-for-6 from long range. Casella had 10 points in the setback.

Suffolk combined to go 13-for-30 from beyond the arc in the contest as a team shooting at a 40.3-percent clip.

The loss ends the 2013-14 season as Suffolk finishes with a 9-17 overall record.