DUDLEY, Mass. – A championship finish to the Suffolk men's basketball first season in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) was not meant to be as the fourth-seeded Rams fell to the tournament's top seed Nichols, 87-76, Thursday in the league semifinals at the Nichols Athletic Center.  

The Bison barreled out of the half time break to eliminate the blue-and-gold's lead and force an edge-of-your-seat finish to Suffolk's 2021-22 season. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 86 | Nichols 87
RECORDS: Suffolk (16-10) | Nichols (24-3)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk led by a dozen 7:02 into the action thanks in large part to a four-minute scoreless stretch from Nichols. The blue-and-gold would build a lead as largest as 13, 25-12, at the 9:29 mark before the Bison eventually found their bearings.  

Out of a Suffolk timeout, the host poured in eight unanswered to cut the distance down to 28-24 with 5:24 remaining in the opening half. The Rams rallied around a triple from Nate Hale followed by back-to-back buckets from Conor Creane and Jake Gomez to restore the double figure advantage 39-28.  

It was hoop-for-hoop in the final two minutes before the break to the teams into the locker room with Suffolk ahead, 42-34.   

Suffolk built a baker's dozen cushion, 50-37, 2:33 into the second stanza. There was plenty of time left for the Bison to charge back and they did just that. A minute later, full-court pressure from Nichols turned into six straight points for the host and trimmed the gap to single digits, 50-43.  

The host comeback continued and for the first time since tip-off the playing field leveled at 58-all to start a new ball game at the 10:44 mark.  

Hale hit a trey to keep Suffolk in front, but the Bison used a driving layup from Jakigh Dottin followed by a long ball by Matthew Alectus to take their first lead of the day, 63-61, at the 9:46 minute mark.  

Nichols controlled the action from there and Suffolk faced its largest deficit of the night of seven points with 2:20 on the clock. The Rams cut it down to one on a pair of freebies from Aidan Sullivan with 13 seconds to go. Two seconds ticked off the board before Keenan Robertson gambled and fouled Dottin.  

The Bison were in the bonus and Dottin did his job, sinking both free throws to extend the margin back to three. Suffolk went for the quick lay-up that Gomez converted, but time ran out on the Rams championship run hopes.   

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Hale capped off his collegiate campaign with a 21-point offensive output. He shot 4-for-8 from behind-the-arc. 
• Sullivan recorded 14 points on a 5-for-9 performance from the field with eight handouts and one board. 
• William Rowe tallied 10 caroms, eight points, one block and one steal. 
• Gomez was perfect from the floor, 6-for-6, and at the line, 2-for-2, to finish with 14 points to go along with 14 points, three dimes, two caroms and two takeaways in 18 minutes off the bench. 
• John Gates was a sharp shooter. The Rams' reserve knocked down 4-of-7 threes to chip in 14 points. He added three assists, two boards and two steals. 
• Suffolk shot 51.6 percent (33-64) on the night, but struggled from the free throw line, sinking just 10 of its 16 foul shots. 
• Nichols, who saw four players in double figures and two surpass the 20-point mark, outrebounded the Rams, 33-30.   

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk competed in the CCC semifinals for the first time. 
• The Rams played in a league semifinal for the fifth time in program history, first since 2017-18 and second time under Jeff Juron's guidance. 
• The blue-and-gold competed in a conference semifinal contest as the fourth seed for the first time in program history. 
• The Rams dipped to 1-4 in league semifinals. 
• Suffolk and Nichols met in the postseason for the first time. 
• The Rams moved to 2-6 in the postseason with Juron on the bench. 
• Suffolk is now 36-15 all-time against Nichols. 
• The Rams are 14-7 against the Bison as the away team.  

POST-GAME PIC