Rams Charge to Victory over AMCATS, 77-73

PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College men's basketball team dropped to the visiting Rams of Suffolk University 77-73 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) battle on Tuesday night. The loss drops the AMCATS to 4-20 overall and 4-13 in conference play. The Rams rise to 7-17 and 6-11 in the GNAC.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Junior Kenneth Graham (West Haven,Conn.) lead the AMCATS with 21 points while Freshman Mike Rapoza (Charlton, Mass.) followed Graham's lead with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.) finished off the double digit scoring for the AMCATS with 13 points.

Rams Thomas Duffy led all scorers with a game high 22 points to go along with a game high five assists. Michael Hagopian complemented Duffy's play for the Rams with 19 points of his own. Jim Djema and George Grillakis rounded out double-digit scoring for Suffolk with 12 and 10 points respectively.

Suffolk held a 11-15 edge over Anna Maria in turnovers, a 20-14 edge in points off of turnovers. Anna Maria held an advantage over Suffolk with 40-34 points in the paint.

The AMCATS dominated on the board collecting 28 total rebounds as well as recording 12 second chance points.

The AMCATS came out of the gate firing a way with a three-pointer from David Jean Louis (Miramar, Fla.) to take the early 3-0 lead. The Rams responded with a layup by George Grillakis to bring the score to 3 to 2. The Rams and AMCATS traded leads multiple time throughout the first half. The Rams were going into half time with a 40 to 37 lead until a last second three point shot from Kenneth Graham tied the score at 40-40.

The beginning of the second half continued to be a battle with the Rams taking the lead first with two free throws made by Michael Hagopian to bring the score to 42-40. The AMCATS fired back with a layup from Mike Rapoza who was also fouled on the play. He went on to hit the free throw to bring the score to 43 to 42 AMCATS. However, the Rams were able to respond right back with a layup of their own from Thomas Duffy to bring the score to 44 to 43. From then on the Rams did not look back and never gave up the lead. The AMCATS were able to cut down the lead by one with 2:46 left in the second half but this is as close as they would come as the Rams ultimately took the victory, 77-73

WHAT'S NEXT?

The AMCATS will host GNAC rival Rivier University on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 1:00 p.m. for their last home game of the season. The Rams return to action on the same day against St. Joseph's (Me).