Men's Basketball Falls 81-60 to Suffolk

BOSTON, MA: Anna Maria men's basketball continued its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) competition Saturday afternoon with an 81-60 loss to Suffolk University at Simmons' Moore Gymnasium.

 THE BASICS

SCORE: Suffolk 81 | Anna Maria 60

RECORDS: Suffolk (9-6, 1-0 GNAC) | Anna Maria (4-11, 1-1 GNAC)

 HOW IT HAPPENED

An early 8-0 Rams' run blossomed to an 18-2 Suffolk stretch that gave the hosts a 20-4 cushion at the midway point of the first frame.

Anna Maria used a scoring streak of its own to trim the margin to single digits, 24-15, at the 6:31 minute mark.

Suffolk used shooting from downtown to build a 13-point distance, 35-22, as Jonathan Eng, Max Bonney-Liles and Alex Jacovides each poured in a hoop from behind-the-arc.

The game of runs continued. This time it was the AMCATS that went on a spurt, outscoring the Rams, 10-3, to keep things close at the half, 38-34.

To open the second stanza Anna Marie put in the first three points to chip the gap to one. Back-to-back buckets from Nate Hale kept ground between the conference competitors. The junior made a pull-up elbow jumper and a triple from the top the key to restore a two-possession game in the Rams' favor.

The AMCATS swung momentum in their favor though, converting five straight points. The run was capped off by a fast-break lay-up that turned into a traditional three-point play that gave the visitors their first lead their first possession of the game, which came 36 seconds into the contest.

Jarret Byrne regained the lead for the Rams on their next possession before things would lock for the third and final time at 47-all.

From there, Suffolk took over behind Jacovides finesse inside and outside the arc. The junior followed pull-ups with treys and mixed in layups to help the Rams build a 66-53 advantage with just under six minutes left in regulation.

A give-and-go between William Rowe and Eng pushed Suffolk up 18 with 3:21 on the clock. It was time management from there for the Rams, who used their possession wisely to walk away with the 81-60 conference-opening decision.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Jacovides finished with a game high of 23 points with 4 rebounds for Suffolk.   

-  Mike Rapoza (Charlton, MA) had a team high 16 points to go along with his double-double earning 16 rebounds.

-  Bobby Perette (Marshfield, MA) finished right behind him with 15 points of his own.

UP NEXT:

- Anna Maria returns to action on Wednesday at home against Rivier University. Game time is set for 7:00 pm.

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