Men’s Basketball Falls at Regis 65-54

WESTON, Mass. – Trailing by as many as 18 with under 10 minutes remaining, the Suffolk men's basketball team made a late push, but it wouldn't be enough as the Rams fell to the Pride of Regis, 65-54, Saturday afternoon at Higgins Court. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 65, Regis 65
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-6, 2-2 GNAC) | Regis (7-7, 4-2 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Over the first 20 minutes, the lead swapped 12 times and the score locked four times with the Pride using a late 8-0 run to send the Rams into the locker room down 28-21. 

Regis ran into the second half and built a 18-point lead, 52-34, with 9:45 on the clock. Michael Hagopian jump started Suffolk's comeback with a bucket from behind-the-arc. George Grillakis converted on three freebies and followed that with a layup, before Brendan Mulson connected on a triple to trim the margin to single digits, 54-45, with 6:28 remaining. 

Hagopian's remained hot downtown as the junior put away his fourth of the day to make it a two possession contest.  The Rams went cold over the next 1:20 and Regis' Roger Hamel broke up the visitors' run to put eight points back between the foes with just over four minutes to play. 

Suffolk cut the deficit to five, twice, with the last coming off a Mulson layup at the 1:03 minute mark. Out of a Rams timeout, the blue-and-gold rolled the dice with the foul game, sending the Pride to win it at the line. The hosts went 6-for-6 at the charity stripe over the final minute and Suffolk was unable to find the netting again for the Pride to take the 65-54 conference victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Hagopian's game-high 19 points led Suffolk's offense with the guard shooting 7-for-14 from the field including a 4-for-8 effort from behind the arc.
• Grillakis joined Hagopian in double figures with 13 points off the bench including a 6-for-7 showing at the free throw line.
• Mulson chipped in nine points, while Thomas Duffy paced Suffolk on the glass with five caroms to go along with four points.
• Suffolk struggled from the field, shooting just 35.8 percent (19-53) and 29.2 percent (7-24) from three-point land. The Rams used their 75.0 connection rate (9-12) at the line to remain in the agme.
• The Pride outrebounded Suffolk, 41-24. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Regis met for the first time.
• Hagopian recorded double figures for the 11th time.
• Grillakis notched double digits for the third time this season, matching a season-high with 13 points.
• Jeff Juron kept his usual starting five in Jim Djema, Hagopian, Duffy, Mulson and Kevin Querusio. 

POST-GAME PIC

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is back on its home court, the Larry E. & Michael S. Smith Court inside Regan Gymnasium, Thursday, Jan. 18 as part of a Rams basketball doubleheader. The women's team gets the action underway at 5 p.m. versus Norwich with the men's team taking on Emmanuel at 7:00 p.m.