Men’s Basketball: AMCATS Race Past Rams, 80-58

Paxton, Mass. – Trailing 15-0 to open the game, the Anna Maria College men's basketball team powered back behind a pair of double-doubles by senior Quantez Franklin (South Yarmouth, Mass.) and sophomore Hugh Daye (Worcester, Mass.) en route to an 80-58 victory over Suffolk University in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Wednesday evening at Fuller Activities Center.

The AMCATS, winners of five-straight, move to 8-10 on the season and 6-5 in conference play. The Rams dip to 7-10 (4-6 GNAC) overall.

Franklin led all scorers with 18 points and 13 rebounds while Daye added 12 points and 11 assists. Off the bench sophomore Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) delivered 16 points shooting a cool 4-of-6 from three-point range. Freshman Trevon Farley (Lawrence, Mass.) contributed 14 points on a perfect night shooting a stellar 6-of-6 from the parquet.

Suffolk was led by sophomore guard Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) who posted 13 points and junior Matt Powers (Westwood, Mass) who added 12 points off the bench.

The Rams raced out to a 15-0 lead before the AMCATS could tip the twine. Farley hit a jumper and Delorey delivered his first three to cut the deficit to 10 (15-5) with 11:44 on the scoreboard. Rams' sophomore Curtis Casella drained a trey with 9:50 remaining to give Suffolk their biggest lead of the night 23-7.

Anna Maria would respond with a 10-4 run to make the score 27-17 following another 3-poiner by Delorey and force a Rams' timeout at the 6:26 mark. Down the stretch Anna Maria would score five of the final eight points but the Suffolk would hold a slim 35-30 lead at the intermission.

The AMCATS opened the second stanza with an 8-3 run as senior Joseph Barillo (Dania Beach, FL) tallied a short jumper to tie the match 38-38 with 17:24 to play.

Suffolk led 50-46 following a layup by Jake Meister (Madison, NJ) with 13:03 remaining before Anna Maria scored 12 straight for a 58-50 edge with 8:33 to play. Guard Hugh Daye's play was pivotal in the lead change. In a span of 1:02 the crafty player found Farley in the paint for the layup then poured in a pair from the charity stripe to tie the match. On the Rams ensuing possession he would pick-the-pocket of Casella then drive coast-to-coast to dish to Delorey, who would hit from beyond the arc for the final lead change of the night, pushing Anna Maria ahead 53-50.

Anna Maria quickly pushed the lead to double digits and Suffolk couldn't respond to the run.

 The AMCATS shot 46.4 percent from the field (32-69) while hitting 6-of-16 from 3-point range.

Suffolk shot 30.2 from the floor (19-of-63) and the Rams were 9-of-2 4 from behind the arc.

Anna Maria held a slight 42-40 lead on the boards.

Anna Maria is back in action on Saturday when they travel to Johnson & Wales University for a GNAC match-up staring at 1:00 p.m.