Delorey Reaches 1,000 Points as Men's Basketball Downs Suffolk, 81-70

PAXTON, Mass.—Senior Tyler Delorey (Worcester, Mass.) became the 22^nd 1,000-point scorer in Anna Maria College men's basketball history as the AMCATS downed the Rams of Suffolk University 81-70 in Wednesday evening's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest.

Anna Maria improves to 11-9 overall and 7-6 in GNAC play with tonight's win, while Suffolk falls to 4-16 overall and 2-11 in league action.

LUCKY NUMBER 27

Delorey needed 27 points to reach the career milestone entering tonight's contest. Still three points shy of the milestone with under 30 seconds left to play, classmate Corey Pryor (Whitinsville, Mass.) passed to Delorey on the wing with 11 seconds left.

Delorey opted to forgo the three-point shot and instead drove to the rim, where he made the layup and was fouled, setting him up to score his 1,000^th point at the free-throw line. He calmly drained the shot as the Fuller Center erupted and his teammates huddled around him.  Delorey becomes the first AMCAT to score 1,000 points since 2013.

MBB | Tyler Delorey's 1000th career point! #AMCATNation pic.twitter.com/Sn5N7Iug0K

— Anna Maria Athletics (@goAMCATS) February 4, 2016

AMCAT LEADERS

Followed by Delorey's 27 points, the AMCATS saw 22 points off the bench from Pryor. Classmate Patrick Bradanese (Billerica, Mass.) finished with 15 points and five assists, while fellow senior Kyle McKissick (Charlton, Mass.) recorded a game-high 13 rebounds.

SUFFOLK LEADERS

The Rams also finished with three double-digit scorers, led by Jake Meister (Madison, N.J.) with 19 points. Matt Duquette (Swampscott, Mass.) was close behind with 18 points, followed by Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) with 16.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The first 15 minutes of the game were back-and-forth as the teams exchanged five leads and were tied four times. Trailing by two, 28-26, with 5:34 still to play in the half, the AMCATS took the final lead change of the half on a three-pointer by Bradanese.

Anna Maria would hold Suffolk scoreless for the remainder of the half while scoring 12 points of their own, including a steal-layup combination by Kenneth Graham (West Haven, Conn.) that sparked the crowd and put the AMCATS up by nine. A final free-throw by Graham with four seconds left in the half sent the hosts into halftime with a 40-28 advantage.

The AMCATS scored the first two points of the second half on a pair of free-throws by McKissick and Anna Maria took a 15-point lead minutes later on a three-pointer by David Jean-Louis (Miramar, Fla.). The AMCATS would lead by as many as 18 in the first part of the second half, until Suffolk began to chip away at the deficit.

A 10-4 run over a two-minute stretch midway through the half helped Suffolk cut Anna Maria's lead to single-digits, 55-48, following a three-pointer by Unni. A free-throw by Steven Diprizio (Medford, Mass.) brought the Rams within six, but it would prove to be the closest they would get as Anna Maria opened up another double-digit window.

One last Suffolk run brought them within six points again following a triple by Michael Hagopian (Watertown, Mass.) with 29 seconds on the clock but the Rams were forced to foul for possession and sent Pryor to the free-throw line, where he drained two. A defensive board by McKissick on Suffolk's last trip down the floor set up Delorey for his milestone play.

FINAL COMPARISONS

Anna Maria held scoring advantage is points off turnovers (18-5), second-chance points (21-6), points in the paint (30-28), fast break points (16-0), and bench points (29-9). Despite this, the AMCATS were actually bested by the Rams from the floor—42.4 percent (25-59) to 41.1 percent (30-73).

The Rams also held a 13-12 advantage in points scored at the free-throw line, while Anna Maria cleaned up on the boards, outrebounding Suffolk 48-36.

THE SERIES

Today's win marks the third-in-a-row for Anna Maria against Suffolk and brings their overall winning record to 7-2 since joining the GNAC. Suffolk won back-to-back meetings in 2014.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both teams return to action on Saturday--Anna Maria travels to Johnson & Wales for a 1:00 p.m. GNAC contest, while Suffolk hosts Norwich at 3:15 p.m.