BOSTON – Making its fifth straight trip, the Suffolk men's basketball team heads to the GNAC Tournament as the seventh seed. The Rams will travel to second-seeded Johnson & Wales Tuesday, Feb. 21 for a quarterfinals contest scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Suffolk, who finished its second season under the guidance of head coach Jeff Juron, makes its 13th overall trip to the tourney and seventh bid for the title in the past eight years thanks to 7-18 regular season and a 6-12 showing against conference competition.
Johnson & Wales (15-10, 15-3 GNAC), meanwhile, captured the second spot edging Lasell in the tiebreak with a 75-70 overtime win over No. 1 Albertus Magnus Dec. 3. The Wildcats, who earned all their victories this season against conference competition, enter the trophy hunt on a two-game skid including an 87-86 overtime upset to Emmanuel in the regular season finale Saturday.
In the regular season, the Wildcats handled the Rams when the blue-and-gold visited Providence Jan. 25, 77-51, but Suffolk gave JWU a run for its money Feb. 11 when it stopped by Beacon Hill. Jim Djema shot lights out from three-point land to help Suffolk maintain a lead with less than three minutes remaining before the Wildcats outran the Rams down the stretch to claim a 69-62 victory.
Suffolk has appeared in all but four GNAC Tournaments since joining the ranks in 2000. Suffolk captured one title in its 13 appearances in 2002 when the regular-season champion (17-10, 10-3 GNAC) Rams ran the post-season table and grabbed a 76-71 triumph over JWU to hoist the crown.
The Rams will make their sixth tournament trip as the seventh seed and second straight in the seventh spot. Suffolk's last victory in the tournament came as the seventh seed in 2007, an 80-75 win over Emerson.
The Rams and Wildcats will meet for the fourth time in the post-season and third time in the quarterfinals with JWU owning the two previous first-round victories. Suffolk's lone win over the Wildcats in the post-season came in championship game in 2002 for the Rams only GNAC crown.
The four winners from Tuesday night will advance to the semis Thursday with the two victors competing for the championship Saturday, Feb. 25.
2017 MEN'S BASKETBALL GNAC TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, Feb. 21
Game 1: #8 Anna Maria at #1 Albertus Magnus – 7 p.m.
Game 2: #5 St. Joseph's (Maine) at #4 Mount Ida – 7 p.m.
Game 3: #6 Emmanuel at #3 Lasell – 7 p.m.
Game 4: #7 Suffolk at #2 Johnson & Wales – 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals – Thursday, Feb. 23
Game 5: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
Game 6: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner
Finals – Saturday, Feb. 25
Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner