Men’s Basketball Ventures to Rivier Wednesday

BOSTON – The Suffolk men's basketball opens a two-game road swing with a trip to the Granite State Wednesday, Feb. 1 for a mid-week matchup at Rivier. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. 

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LAST TIME OUT
Michael Hagopian poured in a career-high 34 points to pace the Suffolk men's basketball team to a 78-64 win over Anna Maria Saturday afternoon inside Regan Gymnasium.   

MORE READING: Hagopian's Career Day Leads Men's Basketball Pass Anna Maria, 78-64

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
Thanks to Michael Hagopian's heroics, Suffolk snapped a five-game skid and marked another tally in the win column, improving to 5-14 overall and 4-8 in conference play. 

Offensively, Suffolk is putting together 64.3 ppg thanks in large part to the trio of sophomores in Steven DiPrizio (13.1 ppg), Hagopian (11.9 ppg) and Jim Djema (9.9 ppg). George Grillakis is also a consistent contributor on the offensive end with the freshman averaging 8.1 ppg. 

The Rams bring down 32.3 rpg with DiPrizio leading the way once again with 8.3 rpg. Thomas Duffy steps up on the defensive end as well as the freshman provides 5.0 rpg. 

RAIDERS REVIEW
Since meeting Suffolk Jan. 10, Rivier has still not been able to reverse the script and land in the win column running its losing stretch to 17 straight. The skid puts the Raiders at 1-18 overall and winless against conference competition (0-12). 

The Raiders are scoring 64.2 ppg led by a 16.7 ppg performance from freshman guard Tristian Givens. Senior forward Kevin Francis adds double figures to the effort with 10.1 ppg. 

Rivier grabs 37.8 rpg on a well-balanced effort led by Francis' 6.8 boards per outing. 

WE MEET AGAIN
The Suffolk men's basketball team shot lights out on the long ball, shooting 50 percent from three-point range to run past GNAC rival Rivier, 79-45, Jan. 10 inside Regan Gymnasium.

MORE READING: Men's Basketball Shoots Past Rivier, 79-45

THE SERIES
Suffolk holds a 21-14 all-time series lead versus Rivier thank to the Rams' decisive win in the first meeting this season. Last year, the two teams split the series with Suffolk taking the first and the Raiders taking the second.   

EYES ON THE GAME

HAGOPIAN HOOPS
Michael Hagopian secured himself in the season annals Saturday, Jan. 28 with the sophomore dropping 34 points, the most by a Ram in the Jeff Juron era, displacing Jake Meister's 28-point output from an 88-58 triumph over Norwich Feb. 6, 2016. The Watertown, Massachusetts, product was the first player in blue-and-gold to score 30-plus points since Sam Nwadike contributed 30 in a 79-64 setback to Emerson Jan. 4, 2015. The 34-points are the most points by a Ram since Nwadike poured in 39 in a thrilling 84-82 Suffolk win over Anna Maria Dec. 4, 2014.   

ROOKIE REMARKS
For back-to-back weeks Dec. 5 and 12, 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

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?
Suffolk remains on the road and travels across town to Emmanuel Saturday, Feb. 4 for a 1 p.m. contest.