Posted: Jan 28, 2013
AMCATS Extend Winning Streak to 9 Games, Down Suffolk 83-67
Suffolk
(7-12 (5-7 GNAC))
67
Anna Maria
(12-7 (10-2 GNAC))
83
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Suffolk (7-12 (5-7 GNAC)) | 38 | 29 | 67 |
|
Anna Maria (12-7 (10-2 GNAC)) | 28 | 55 | 83 |
PAXTON, Mass.- The Anna Maria College men's basketball team exploded for 55 second-half points to erase an eleven point deficit to down visiting Suffolk University 83-67 en route to their 9th consecutive win. The AMCATS improve to 12-7 overall and extend their Great Northeast Athletic Conference winning streak to 10 games with a GNAC record of 10-2. Suffolk University drops to 7-11 (5-7 GNAC) on the season.
AMC senior Anthony Click (Springfield, MA) once again led all scorers with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc and 9-for-11 from the free throw line. He also grabbed 8 rebounds, had 2 steals, 4 blocks and dished out 2 assists. Teammate Javier Bristol (Haverhill, MA) added 14 point and 8 boards while junior Joseph Barillo (Dania Beach, FL) knocked down 10 points and notched 3 assists.
Senior guard Chris Torres paced Suffolk with a team-high 22 points. Freshman guard Caleb Unni added 16 points for the rams while Colin Halpin checked in with 13 points.
The Rams worked their game plan to perfection in the opening minutes of play outscoring the AMCATS 20-13 while holding AMC's big three of Brad Peterson, Bristol and Click to just 6 points. Suffolk played tenacious defense and built their lead to 14 points with less than a minute remaining in the half. Anna Maria's Click scored the last four points of the half with a pair from the charity stripe and a good layup as time expired to cut the deficit to 38-28 heading into the locker room.
Suffolk shot a blistering 51.5% in the first half to AMC's 37.9% and maintained a 38-28 edge in rebounds. Both teams could only connect on one three-pointer each in the opening stanza.
Anna Maria opened the second half with baskets by sophomore point guard Michael Gorman and Bristol to cut the Rams' lead to 38-32, however Suffolk responded with a quick 8-3 run to push the lead back to 11 points, 46-35 with 17:24 to play. AMC would chip away at the SU lead, over the next four minutes the AMCATS would hold the Rams to just one basket and a free throw while both Click and Barillo were hitting trifectas and Bristol a key jumper to pull within two points 49-47.
Responding to the AMC streak, Rams' Jhonneris Mendez hit a jumper to make it a four point cushion 53-49 with 11:57 to play. From here on out the AMCATS turned it up a notch. After a Rams turnover Click found Barillo at three point range cut the lead to 53-52. Barillo, after making a great steal with tireless defense, finds Javier Bristol at the Anna Maria hoop for a dunk. Click, not to be outmatched by Bristol, on the next play makes a great steal and finishes with a dunk of his own to give the AMCATS a 56-53 advantage.
The AMCATS continued to score quickly, another trey from Click and AMCATS had built the lead to 7 points with 7 minutes to play. Anna Maria connected on 10 free throws late in the second half to seal the 83-67 victory.
Anna Maria heads to Emmanuel College on Thursday night for a GNAC match-up beginning at 7:00pm.