Men’s Basketball Concludes 2016 at UMass Boston Tuesday

BOSTON – The Suffolk men's basketball team wraps up the 2016 portion of its scheduled Tuesday, Dec. 13 as the Rams travel across town for a game at UMass Boston. Tip-off is set to begin at 7 p.m. 

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LAST TIME OUT
Trailing by 20 points at halftime, the Suffolk men's basketball team stormed out of the locker room and pulled within six of Albertus Magnus, but the Falcons did not let the Rams get any closer to hold on for the 81-74 GNAC victory inside The Nest Saturday afternoon.    

MORE READING: Albertus Magnus Holds Off Men's Basketball's Comeback, 81-74

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
Suffolk followed up its first GNAC win with a thrilling comeback at Albertus Magnus Saturday, but fell just short to move to 2-7 on the season and 1-2 in league action. 

The Rams are putting in 64.7 ppg, shooting 40.6 percent from the floor and 76.4 percent at the charity stripe. A trio of sophomores are leading the easy for Suffolk offensively. Steven DiPrizio records a team-best 12.3 ppg with Jim Djema and Michael Hagopian adding 11.2 ppg and 10.3 ppg, respectively. 

On the glass, Suffolk tallies 32.6 rpg. DiPrizio once again is the squad's leader with the forward grabbing 7.3 rpg. Freshman Thomas Duffy contributes 5.3 rpg to the effort. 

BASICS ON THE BEACONS
UMass Boston had its three-game win streak come to a halt Saturday with a 90-80 setback. The Beacons win streak featured an upset over then-No. 5 Tufts, 76-74. UMass carries a 6-3 mark into Tuesday's meeting with the Rams. 

The Beacons are averaging 90.0 ppg at a 45.7 shooting clip including a 38.0 connection rate from three-point land and a 72.7 percentage at the line. UMass Boston receives double figures from five players, four of which are in the Beacons' starting lineup and one comes off the bench. Sam Freeman paces the pack with 18.1 ppg with Iser Barnes (13.2 ppg), Dan Powers (11.1 ppg), Alex Sanchez (10.9 ppg) and Ty Lee (10.0 ppg) chipping in to the effort. 

Boston is outrebounding its opposition by a 2.8 margin with 39.3 rpg. Powers and Freeman are the forces on the glass for the Beacons with Powers bringing down 8.9 rpg and Freeman grabbing 7.1 rpg. 

INSIDE THE SERIES
Tuesday marks the 27th meeting between the Rams and Beacons since the first matchup in 1990. UMass Boston holds a commanding 19-7 series leading, including victories in the last eight meetings. Suffolk looks to tally its first mark in the win column versus its city rival since 2007.  

EYES ON THE GAME

ROOKIE REMARKS
For back-to-back weeks, Thomas Duffy earned GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week honors. 

MORE READING:  Duffy Named GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week |Duffy Grabs Second Straight GNAC Corvias Rookie of the Week

SEEING DOUBLE
Steven DiPrizio has notched two double-doubles this season. The first of his career came in a 78-72 setback to Emerson with a 22-point, 13-rebound effort. The sophomore notched his second in the Rams' first win of the season as the forward led the blue and gold to victory with 19 points and 17 boards. 

SUFFOLK FREE RADIO
Suffolk Athletics has teamed up with Suffolk Free Radio to bring Ram Nation live broadcast events this year including multiple home and away women's basketball contests.

The pre-game shows are set to launch 15 minutes prior to tip-off of all contests and fans can follow along at mixlr.com/suffolkfreeradio/.

WHAT'S NEXT?
After the New Year, Suffolk entertains Emmanuel inside Regan Gymnasium for a GNAC contest at 7 p.m.