BEVERLY, Mass. – Keenan Robertson knocked down 10 3-pointers for a game-high 43 points to pace the third-seeded Suffolk men's basketball team to a thrilling 96-85 victory over second seed Endicott in the 2025 Conference of New England Semifinals Thursday night at MacDonald Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 96 | Endicott 85
RECORDS: Suffolk (20-7) | Endicott (18-8)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Endicott could not miss in the first six minutes as the host went 6-for-7 from the field to put the Rams in an 11-point, 16-5, hole.
Nick Verdile jump started Suffolk's offense as the sophomore sunk back-to-back treys. Those long balls ignited a 14-2 Rams run that was capped off by Verdile's third three of the night, which gave the blue-and-gold its first lead of the day, 19-18, at the midway point of the first.
The lead switched seven times and the score locked on five occasions over the last 10 of the opening half with the final even score coming at the first half buzzer to send the teams into the locker room at 45-all.
Suffolk recaptured the advantage, 56-52, as the game went into the first media timeout of the second half at the 15:49 mark.
A one-point game remained one minute later, 58-57, before Suffolk compiled an 11-2 stretch to build a double-digit distance, 69-59 with 10:21 left on the clock.
Endicott made a comeback behind a 10-3 spurt that sliced the gap to four, 77-73, with 5:24 to go.
Danny Yardemian banked a three as the shot clock was going to expire before Robertson sunk a long jumper with his foot on the 3-point land to extend the edge back to nine.
What sealed the deal though was when Robertson striped the ball from Marcus Montagnino and went down for a highlight-reel dunk to restore the 10-point margin with 2:06 to go.
Time was not in the Gulls favor and they gambled with fouling to send Suffolk to the line, where it clinched the win.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Robertson's 43-point stat line was behind a 15-for-23 showing from the floor that included a 10-for-14 effort from 3-point land. He added six boards, two assists, one steal and one block.
- Verdile was hot from behind-the-arc as well. The sophomore shot 6-for-9 on the night, 5-for-7 from downtown, to finish with 19 points to go along with five caroms, three helpers and one steal.
- Jake Gomez poured in 15 points thanks to a 6-for-9 performance from the floor. The senior forward was one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards to go along with five helpers and two steals.
- Yardemian pitched in 16 points, seven handouts and six rebounds.
- Suffolk shot 58.6 percent (34-58) on the night, 59.3 percent (16-27) from three and 63.2 percent (12-19) from the charity stripe.
- The Rams outrebounded the Gulls, 30-28.
- Suffolk took advantage of the Gulls' 10 turnovers and turned them into 11 points.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk put together its first 20-win season in program history.
- Suffolk is in the midst of its 20th overall postseason trip and 12th straight conference tournament run.
- The trip is Suffolk's fourth CNE (formerly CCC) Tournament trip.
- The Rams are competing in the CNE tourney as the third seed for the first time.
- Suffolk will advance to the championship contest for the third time, second straight season.
- Suffolk played in back-to-back league semifinals for the first time since 2001 and 2002.
- Suffolk improved to 3-4 in a conference semifinal and 2-1 in a CNE semifinal game.
- All of Suffolk's CNE semifinals contests have taken place on the road.
- Suffolk boasts a 5-3 overall record in the CNE Tournament.
- The blue-and-gold is now 3-3 in CNE postseason play.
- Under Jeff Juron's guidance, Suffolk is 6-7 in the postseason and 5-3 in the CNE Tournament.
- Suffolk battled Endicott in the postseason for the third time.
- The Rams are unbeaten, 3-0, in the postseason versus Endicott.
- Suffolk moved to 2-0 on the road in the postseason against the Gulls.
- The Rams and Gulls played in the conference semifinals for the first time.
- All-time, Suffolk moved to 8-6 against Endicott.
- The Rams are 4-3 when playing at Endicott. Suffolk has won its last xxx game in Beverly, Massachusetts.
- The 96 points scored is the highest offensive output by the Rams against the Gulls, upstaging the previous mark of 95, which was set March 6, 2021.
- The 11-point margin of victory, meanwhile, matches the largest margin of victory for Suffolk, which was set by a 95-84 win over the March March 6, 2021.
- All 14 games between Suffolk and Endicott have taken place in the Juron era.
- Robertson recorded a career-high in points (43), field goals made (15) and 3-point field goals made (10).
- Robertson's 43 points are tied for 11th in NCAA Division III for single-game scoring this season, while his 10 triples made share second in a single-game this season across DIII.
- Robertson is the first Ram to record 40-plus points and make 10 threes in a single game in the Rams game-by-game record books, which date through the 2008-09 campaign.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will vie to capture the 2025 CNE Championship this Saturday, March 1 in Springfield, Massachusetts at top seed Western New England.
