BRISTOL, R.I. – In a title tilt that featured 20 lead changes, the sixth seeded Suffolk men's basketball team came up just short to fifth seed Roger Williams in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship, 79-76, Saturday afternoon at the Campus Recreation Center.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 76 | Roger Williams 79
RECORDS: Suffolk (15-12) | Roger Williams (14-14)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Keenan Robertson and Danny Yardemian helped Suffolk take a 38-35 cushion into halftime as the junior and grad student scored 12 points and 13 points, respectively, to pace the offensive output in the first 20 minutes.
Down 5-2, Robertson etched his name in the scorebook and Yardemian put up five points in a 7-0 Rams run to give the blue-and-gold its first advantage of the day, 9-6.
The twosome teamed up again out of an 11-all tie with six straight points, four from Yardemian followed by two by Robertson, to push Suffolk in front by six, 17-11, with 12:10 on the clock.
RWU trimmed the deficit down to two before Nick Verdile swished a trifecta to give the Rams a 20-15 upperhand at the midway point.
Suffolk went up by as many as seven, 24-17, after Jake Gomez and Evan Cook scored two apiece. The Hawks flew back with an 8-2 run to trim the gap to one, 26-25, with 7:27 to go in the opening half.
The lead would flip flop four times from there with the last landing in Suffolk's favor on a Yardemian fast break lay-up. After Yardemian converted in transition again, the teams would go hoop-for-hoop to close out the first half with Suffolk up by three, 38-35.
Out of the locker room, Suffolk hung onto the one-possession edge until a traditional 3-point play by Sean Gogolin sparked the Hawks offense. With an 8-2 rally, RWU jump ahead, 47-44, to force Jeff Juron to use a timeout at the 15:35 mark.
Suffolk found itself in an eight-point, 57-49, hole with just under 13 minutes left in the second. Triples by Verdile and Devin Dzikas sliced the deficit back to two.
A back-and-forth affair ensued, which helped the Hawks hold onto the lead, 61-57, with 11:29 to go.
From there, the lead switched three and evened five times with the last coming at 74-74 to set up a thrilling final three minutes.
Yardemain sent Suffolk in front at the 2:28 mark before RWU flipped the script in its favor 19 seconds later.
The game went scoreless for nearly two minutes before Will MacDonald hit a layup for the host to extend the edge to three, 79-76, with 11 seconds to go.
Out of a timeout, Suffolk had time for one last chance, but Cook's long ball was off the mark to wrap up the Rams season.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Yardemian poured in a game-high 27 points on a 10-for-17 showing from the floor that included 3-for-4 effort from behind-the-arc and 4-for-6 showing at the free throw line. He added two boards, two assists, and one steal.
- Robertson registered a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double. He shot 75.0 percent (9-12) from the floor and did not miss (4-4) at the line. The junior tacked on five handouts and one block.
- Cook chipped in eight points, two dimes, one board and one steal.
- LeVangie and Verdile had six points apiece, both on buckets from downtown.
- Both teams shot 53 percent from the floor.
- The Hawks hit 14 triples compared to the Rams eight.
- Suffolk held a 28-26 edge on the glass.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk played in the CCC Championship for the first time.
- Juron coached his first championship contest at Suffolk.
- The Rams made a conference title game for the second time in program history, first since 2002.
- Suffolk is 1-1 in conference championship games.
- On the road, Suffolk is 2-3 in the CCC Tournament.
- Under Juron's guidance, Suffolk is 4-8 in the postseason in and 3-3 in the CCC Tournament.
- The Rams wrapped their third straight appearance in the CCC Tournament.
- The Rams third CCC Tournament trip marks the 19th overall and the 11th straight conference postseason run for the blue-and-gold.
- The Rams played as the sixth seed in the conference postseason for the first time since 2017-18.
- Suffolk and Roger Williams tangled in the postseason for the first time.
- Yardemian had a career-high in points (27) and matched a personal-best in field goals made (10).
