Men’s Basketball Closes Regular Season at St. Joseph’s Saturday

BOSTON – The Suffolk men's basketball team caps off its 25-game regular-season slate Saturday, Feb. 18 when the Rams make the trip to Standish, Maine for a 3 p.m. tip-off at Saint Joseph's (Maine).    

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LAST TIME OUT
Four different Rams notched double figures as the Suffolk men's basketball team secured a GNAC post-season trip with a 77-73 victory over Anna Maria at the Athletic Center Tuesday night.           

MORE READING: Men's Basketball Secures Post Season Spot, Downs Anna Maria 77-73

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
At 7-17 overall and 6-11 in GNAC action, Suffolk is tied for sixth in the standings with Emmanuel. 

The Rams will rely on their conference-best defense, which allows just a 69.7 ppg, in their regular-season finale. Offensively, Suffolk has a plethora of open threats, but looks will look to set-up Michael Hagopian, who had back-to-back 30-point games earlier this season, to lead the team with 13.7 ppg. Classmate Jim Djema (10.7 ppg) and freshmen George Grillakis (7.6 ppg) and Thomas Duffy (6.9 ppg) have also been contributes for Suffolk this season. 

Defensively, Duffy paces the Rams' 31.8 rpg with 5.5. Grillakis and Hagopian pitch in on the glass with 3.5 rpg and 3.1 rpg, respectively. 

MONKS MENTIONABLES
St. Joseph's is one-slot ahead of Suffolk and Emmanuel in fifth in the standings with a 9-8 league ledger and 12-12 overall mark. The Monks are coming off a 69-66 setback at Mount Ida. 

SJC is putting away 70.7 ppg thanks to a trio of Monks in double digits in Darian Berry (11.3 ppg), Marc Corey (10.9 ppg) and Quinn Richardson-Newton (10.2 ppg). 

On the defensive side of things, the Monks grab the fourth-most rebounds in the conference at 39.0 rpg, outrebounding their opponents by a 3.0 margin. Richardson-Newton leads the way with 5.8 rpg with Corey right on his heels grabbing 5.3 rpg.   

WE MEET AGAIN
Trailing by three with the ball and 20 seconds on the clock, the Suffolk men's basketball team had two opportunities to tie the game, but could not connect as Saint Joseph's (Maine) held on for the 55-52 victory in the Rams' GNAC opener Dec. 3 inside Regan Gymnasium.     

MORE READING: St. Joseph's Spoils Men's Basketball's GNAC Opener, 55-52

THE SERIES
Suffolk and St. Joseph's will take the hardwood for the 30th time. The Rams have taken down the Monks just four times in 29 previous meetings and split the two-game regular-season series with SJC a year ago.  

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

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk awaits seeding of the GNAC tournament with quarterfinal competition set for Tuesday, Feb. 21.