BOSTON - The Suffolk men's basketball saw a lot of highs on Saturday afternoon against River, however with highs comes lows and the Rams' low came in the form of a 62-61 setback to the Raiders in GNAC action.
The Rams celebrated the careers of the team's five graduating seniors, Nacho Ballve, Jake Meister, Adam Chick, Curtis Casella and Caleb Unni, prior to tip-off.
The game also saw Unni score his check off two milestones. The senior guard made his 100th debut in a blue-and-gold uniform and five minutes into the second half, he ignited a standing room only Regan Gymnasium with yet another wave of positivity as he reached his second milestone of the day and drained his 1,000th career point. He cemented his place in Suffolk's (6-17, 4-12 GNAC) record book as the 28th Ram to accomplish the feat and first since Colin Halpin '13 and Matt Pepdjonovic '13 hit the mark in 2013.
The 3-point jumper also tied game at 35 as the Rams continued its pursuit to gain control of the lead. Junior Matt Duquette went on to give Suffolk the lead as he made a layup in the following minute to put the Rams up 37-35.
The score remained within two through the final minute of the contest when Anthony Simmons made two free throws for the Raiders to put Rivier up by three. Meister made a layup with less than a second to play to put Suffolk within one point, but as time expired, the Raiders held on for the win.
Unni finished the game with 13 points, the exact total he needed to reach the 1K mark heading into Saturday's contest, shooting 5-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-7 from behind the arc.
Meister also shined on Senior Day as he led the team in scoring with 18 points and shot a perfect 7-of-7 from line, while Chick added 10 points in one of his final games on the Rams' home court.
As a team, Suffolk shot 36.7percent (22-60) from the field, 28 percent (7-25) from three and 76.9 percent (10-13) from behind the line.
Simmons led the way for Rivier (4-19, 4-12 GNAC), finishing with a team-high 12 points in the victory, while guard Victor Davila added 11 points to the Raiders' offense.
The Rams' defense brought down 38 rebounds in the game, led by Duquette and Chick who totaled eight apiece.
Suffolk will return Regan Gymnasium for the final time this season on Tuesday night as it hosts the Monks of St. Joseph's University in GNAC action at 7 p.m.
