BOSTON – Thomas Duffy and Michael Hagopian's 27 points apiece would not be enough as the Suffolk men's basketball team slipped to Albertus Magnus, 88-84, Thursday night in a GNAC thriller Regan Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 84, Albertus Magnus 88
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-9, 6-5 GNAC) | Albertus Magnus (15-4, 12-0 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening featured a pair of ties and two lead exchanges before Suffolk rattled off seven answered points to go up 15-9. 

Albertus Magnus took a timeout to talk things over and rallied out of the break, stringing together nine consecutive points to swing the contest in its favor, 18-15. 

Hagopian buried a triple to level the playing field at 18-all before a back-and-forth affair ensued. 

The Rams hung around with the Falcons and Duffy pulled the blue-and-gold within four, 40-35. The hosts were unable to flip the switch and go back in front the remainder of the first frame as the visitors put away the final five points of the half to send Suffolk into the break trailing, 45-36. 

Albertus Magnus carried its late run, which ended the first frame, out of the locker room to quickly build a double digit lead. Suffolk played catch up from there and Jim Djema connected from downtown to trim the deficit to 55-48 with 14:24 on the clock. 

Suffolk counted on its shooting from long range to the Falcons and it paid off as Hagopian's fourth three of the night cut the margin to one, 57-56, at the 12:16 minute mark. 

The Falcons rebuilt an eight-point distance, but it was no match for the Rams, as Hagopian continued to impress from  three-point land with the junior putting on a shooting clinic to the cut the margin in half, 70-66. 

Duffy got in on the action from behind-the-arc and Hagopian followed with his seventh trey of the night to keep it a four-point game, 80-76, with 3:09 to go. 

The Rams rallied around outstanding defense by Duffy and Grillakis, who each picked up a steal that the blue-and-gold converted into two points apiece to make it a tied ball game at 84-all with under a minute to play. 

With just five seconds remaining on the shot clock, the Rams sent Amir Maddred to the line for a pair of free throws. The Falcons made the freebies and put Suffolk in a two-point hole with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. 

Duffy's open look rattled out and Hagopian's hail mary was off the mark to force the Rams to foul once again. Ryan Pittman sealed the fate for Suffolk at the line with a set of foul shots with 1 second on the clock for the final 88-84 decision. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Duffy's 27 points came off a 9-for-13 showing from the field, including a 3-for-4 effort beyond-the-arc and a 6-for-6 showing at the line. The sophomore added six rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals to his stat line.
• Hagopian, meanwhile, used his finesse outside the arc to compile 27 points with the junior going 7-for-14 on three pointers to finish the night 9-for-19 from the field.
• Grillakis added a powerful spark off the bench with 12 points, shooting 5-for-7 from the floor, to go along with four caroms, three handouts and one takeaway.
• Brendan Mulson led Suffolk's 30-rebound effort as the freshman grabbed seven boards and chipped in nine points on the offensive end.
• Albertus Magnus received a game-high 40-point performance from Jaqhawn Walters, who finished the night with a double thanks to 15 rebounds.
• Suffolk shot 47.6 percent (30-63) as a squad from the floor and did not miss at the line, going 12-for-12 at the charity stripe.
• The Falcons won the battle on the glass, out rebounding the Rams, 34-30. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Duffy has scored in double figures in seven straight games and 17 times overall this season, achieving more than 20 points in eight of those outings.
• Hagopian hit double figures for the 15th time this year and surpassed 20-plus points for the sixth time.
• Grillakis put together a double digit scoring output for the second straight contest and fifth time this campaign. 

POST-GAME PIC
 

COMING UP
Suffolk will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 3 when it welcomes Regis to Regan Gymnasium for a rematch. Game time is set for 1 p.m.