Men’s Basketball Wins Fourth Straight, Beats UNE, 70-55

Men’s Basketball Wins Fourth Straight, Beats UNE, 70-55

BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball ran its win streak to four games in a row as three different Rams produced double figures to take down Commonwealth Coast Conference foe the University of New England, 70-55, Wednesday night at Coach Beaudry's Court. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 70 | University of New England 55
RECORDS: Suffolk (10-6, 5-4 CCC) | University of New England (2-14, 0-9 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk trailed 8-6 with 4:37 removed from the clock. A traditional 3-point play from Jake Gomez pushed the blue-and-gold in front, 9-8, at the 14:21 mark.  The sophomore continued to pour in the points as he put together his own 7-0 stretch to give the Rams a 13-8 edge a minute later.  

Triples from John Gates and Keenan Robertson extend the margin to a pair of possessions, 19-13, but the Nor'Easters stormed back. The host used an 8-0 run to flip the script in its favor, 21-19, at the midway point of the first half.  

The scored tied twice before a 3:41 scoring draught hit both sides to keep it a 23-all game with just under six minutes to go before the teams headed to the locker room.  

A Gomez layup regained the edge for Suffolk that closed out the opening stanza on a 17-8 stretch to go into the intermission up 40-31.  

The teams would trade hoops over the first9:06 minutes of the second stanza, which let Suffolk cling to a nine-point cushion, 50-41.  

UNE did not let up and five unanswered points made trimmed the gap down to four with plenty of time left on the clock.  

Cole LeVangie trey ignited the Rams offensive output once again. Slowly Suffolk managed to build a 17-point margin, 70-53, with 2:19 left to play and that distance was too great for the Nor'Easters to make up.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

  • Gomez notched a game-high 18 points on an 8-for-10 showing from the floor. He grabbed seven boards to go along with one helper, one block and one steal. 
  • Aidan Sullivan notched 16 points, five set-ups and two rebounds. 
  • LeVangie recorded 14 points, nine caroms and one swat. He shot 5-for-7 on the night including a 2-for-4 effort from downtown. 
  • William Rowe registered nine points, five rebounds, one assist and one block. 
  • As a team, Suffolk shot 54.0 percent (27-50) from the floor, just 38.9 percent (7-18) from 3-point range and 56.3 percent (9-16) from the foul line. 
  • The Rams outrebounded the Nor'Easters, 41-24.
  • UNE, who was led by Winston Bryan (17) in scoring, turned the Rams' 18 turnovers into 16 points. 
  • Suffolk scored 36 points in the pain.  

NOTEWORTHY

  • Suffolk is on a four-game win streak, the most victories in a row since it strung together seven Nov. 18-Dec. 9, 2021. 
  • The Rams defeated UNE for the first time since Dec. 1, 2021, to move to 12-11 all-time versus the Nor'Easeters. 
  • In Biddeford, Maine, the Rams are 7-5 against the Nor'Easters. 
  • The Rams sport a 2-1 record versus UNE in the Jeff Juron era. 
  • Gomez logged a personal-best 18 points on a career-best eight field-goals made.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk looks to extend its win streak further Saturday, Jan. 21 when it welcomes Endicott to Larry E. and Michael S. Smith for a 2 p.m. CCC battle.