Men’s Basketball Heads to Anna Maria Tuesday

BOSTON – The Suffolk men's basketball team open its final week of regular-season action at Anna Maria Tuesday, Feb. 14. Game time at the Fuller Center is set for 6 p.m.      

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LAST TIME OUT
Jim Djema shot lights out from three-point land, but it would not be enough to tame Johnson & Wales as the Wildcats outran the Suffolk men's basketball team in the final three minutes to claim the 69-62 win inside Regan Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.         

MORE READING: Djema Nets Career Day in Men's Basketball's 69-62 Setback to JWU

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
Suffolk currently sits in seventh place in the GNAC standings with a 5-11 league ledger and 6-17 overall record. The Rams have two games remaining on their regular-season slate at Anna Maria and Saint Joseph's (Maine). 

The Rams' 64.7 ppg offense falls on the lower tier of its conference competitors. Michael Hagopian leads the way with 13.4 ppg with his classmate Jim Djema contributing 10.7 ppg. 

Defensively, Suffolk's opponents average 69.5 ppg the fewest in the GNAC. On the glass, the Rams opponents hold an upperhand, outrebounding the blue-and-gold by a 4.9 margin. The Rams' 32.3 rpg are paced by Thomas Duffy's 5.4 rpg.   

A BIT BOUT THE AMCATS
Anna Maria is one-game outside of playoff position with a 4-12 conference mark and 4-19 overall record. The AMCATS welcome the Rams to the Fuller Center following an 0-2 week with setbacks at Johnson & Wales (74-55) and Albertus Magnus (87-66). 

Similar to Suffolk, the AMCATS offense is not a conference powerhouse scoring just 66.0 ppg. Anna Maria is one of the most consistent shooting teams from the floor, however, combining for a 43.3 connection rate from the field. On the boards, the AMCATS grab 34.7 rpg and hold a very, very slim advantage over their opponents. 

Mike Rapoza is the force on both ends of the hardwood for Anna Maria with the freshman forward registering 17.1 ppg and 12.7 rpg, numbers good for sixth and second in the league. Junior Kenneth Graham contributes 10.8 ppg to the offense and 5.1 rpg to the defense.   

WE MEET AGAIN
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 Jan. 28 inside Regan Gymnasium.      

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

THE SERIES
Suffolk snapped Anna Maria's three-game win streak over the Rams with a convincing 78-64 win over the AMCATS Jan. 28. Now, the blue-and-gold trails the series with Anna Maria, 8-4.       

EYES ON THE GAME

30-POINTS AND 10 YEARS AGO
Michael Hagopian followed up his 34-point performance versus Anna Maria Jan. 28 with a 36-point output at Rivier Feb. 1 to be the first player in over a decade to secure back-to-back 30-plus point outings. The sophomore from Watertown, Massachusetts, is the first player in blue-and-gold to accomplish the feat since John Murphy '07 did so at Johnson & Wales (Jan. 17, W, 97-91 2OT) and Daniel Webster (Jan. 20, L, 89-88 OT). Hagopian need just nearly 30 minutes to notch his 30-plus points, while Murphy racked up 39 and 30 points, respectively, in double overtime against the Wildcats and one extra session versus the Eagles. 

Hagopian, who set the most points by a Ram in the Jeff Juron era with his 34-point performance versus the AMCATS, displaced his own record just five days later. The 36 points are the most by a Ram since Sam Nwadike recorded 39 in a thrilling 84-82 Suffolk win over Anna Maria, Dec. 4, 2014. He is also the first player to notch 30 points in an outing since Nwadike registered 30 in a 79-64 setback to Emerson Jan. 4, 2015. Hagopian's two 30-point games in one season is the most by a Ram since Nwadike matched that number in 2013-14.    

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 wraps up the regular-season Saturday, Feb. 18 as it treks to Standish, Maine, for a standoff with Saint Joseph's (Maine) at 3 p.m.