ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Suffolk men's basketball team hung with Washington & Lee for the majority of the contest and pulled within three with just over 11 minutes remaining in the second half, but the Generals managed to keep the Rams at bay, defeating the blue and gold, 66-56, in the opening game of Rochester's Chuck Resler Tournament at Louis Alexander Palestra Friday afternoon.   

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 56, Washington & Lee 66
RECORDS: Suffolk (0-2) | Washington & Lee (1-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Michael Hagopian opened up the game scoring with a good jumper and the game turned into a back-and-forth affair over the next three minutes. 

A 7-0 spurt by W&L put the Generals ahead by 10 early, but a triple from Hagopian kept the Rams in the game, 15-8, at the 13:26 mark. An 11-6 stretch in favor of Suffolk capped off by five unanswered points from the Rams – a trey from Connor Reynolds and a jumper from Jonathan Eng cut the deficit to two at 7:53. 

The Generals slowly built their advantage back to eight, 29-21, but layups by Suffolk's George Grillakis and Eng to end of the half sent the Rams into the locker room down by just four, 29-25. 

Out of intermission, Suffolk hung around with W&L and remained within one possession at 11:35 as Grillakis put away a layup. The Generals ended the Rams hopes of coming back with eight consecutive points to regain a double figure lead, 48-37, with 8:29 to play. 

The 11-point advantage grew to as many as 17, 62-45, with 3:33 on the clock. Jim Djema sparked an 8-0 Suffolk run with a good triple to make things interesting and put the Rams within six, 62-56, with just one minute on the clock. The Generals locked up the win, however, with layups from Roy McMillan and Clayton Murtha to seal the 66-56, triumph. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Suffolk's offensive was evenly distributed with all, but one player recording a point.
• Steven DiPrizio was the lone Ram in double figures, scoring 14 on a 50 percent connection rate (4-8) from the floor and a 6-of-8 showing at the charity stripe. The sophomore forward added two boards and one takeaway to his stat line.
• Off the bench, freshman Grillakis led the Rams on the glass as the 6-foot guard grabbed a career-best five to go along with seven points and one steal.
• Hagopian was one point shy of double figures with nine, shooting 50 percent from the floor (4-8). He chipped in three caroms, one handout and one steal in 33 minutes of action.
• As a team, Suffolk shot 39.2 percent from the field (20-51) and just 19.0 (4-21) from beyond the arc, compared to the Generals' 54.3 field goal percentage (25-46) and 54.5 connection rate (6-11) from long range.
• W&L won the contest on the boards, 34-24.
• Suffolk took advantage of the Generals' 19 turnovers and turned them into 22 points. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Washington & Lee met for the first time on the hardwood in the team's history.
• DiPrizio went to the free throw line a career-high eight times, sinking a career-best six freebies.
• Quinn McCartney, who saw his first action in 2016-17, matched his career-high in steals (2) and blocks (2).
• Djema set a new career-best from shots made behind the arc with two, shooting 50 percent (2-4) from long range. He also matched a career-best on the boards (2).
• Cameron Powers led Suffolk with a career-high three assists.
• Kevin Querusio matched his career-best on the glass, grabbing four.
• Eng and Reynolds recorded their first collegiate points. Eng put in four and Reynolds chipped in three. 

POST-GAME PIC

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will take Rochester's court once more, in the consolation game of the Chuck Resler Tournament tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Rams will take on the loser of the Yellowjackets versus Alfred, which tips off at 6 p.m. this evening.