Mulson’s Double-Double Paves Way in Men’s Basketball’s 59-45 Win at Emmanuel

BOSTON – Brendan Mulson put together his second collegiate double-double to anchor the Suffolk men's basketball team to a  59-45 victory over Boston and GNAC rival Emmanuel Thursday night at Jean Yawkey Court. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 59, Emmanuel 45
RECORDS: Suffolk (10-7, 5-3 GNAC) | Emmanuel ( 2-15, 1-7 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Emmanuel took the initial lead as the Saints put away a bucket in the opening minute. Suffolk on the other hand took nearly four minutes to get going, but once it did it made it count, rattling off seven unanswered points, which included triples from Mulson and George Grillakis, to take a 7-2 edge at the 14:47 minute mark. 

The Rams remained hot from downtown with Jonathan Eng adding to the shooting show and Grillakis putting away his second of the to stretch the lead to 13-6. 

Out of a media timeout the blue-and-gold continued to knock down the long ball. After Mulson converted on a lay-up, Michael Hagopian struck on a wide-open three to put a 13-point distance between the Beantown rivals with 7:21 to go before the break. 

Suffolk continued to build on the cushion as Emmanuel was unable to find its offensive flow. The Rams piled on the points and Mulson's third trey of the evening, which matched a career-best for the freshman, pushed the blue-and-gold's advantage to 21, 34-13, with 40 seconds on the clock. 

Thomas Duffy went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe to send the Rams into the locker room leading the Saints, 35-13. 

Emmanuel controlled the first 15 minutes of the second stanza as the hosts outscored the Rams, 19-9, to cut the deficit to 10, 49-39, with 5:00 minutes remaining in regulation. 

Mulson and Duffy took things over from there as the pair combined for six quick points to turn it into a 55-39 contest with 3:18 to play. 

The Rams kept the Saints at bay from there to secure the regular season sweep of Emmanuel with the 59-45 victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Mulson had his second straight 20-point game as the rookie registered a game-high 20 points on a 6-for-12 effort from the floor, 3-for-7 from three and 5-for-9 at the free throw line. The Albany, New York native grabbed 10 caroms, which also was the best on the night, to led Suffolk's 41 rebound performance.
• Duffy joined Mulson in double figures with 10 points thanks in large part to his 4-for-6 showing at the line to go along with four handouts.
• Grillakis went 3-for-5 from the field and did not miss from behind-the-arc (2-2) to tally nine points off the bench.
• Suffolk used an impressive 43.8 connection rate (7-16) from three-point land in the first half to gain an early edge. Emmanuel, meanwhile, was limited to a 20.0 conversion rate (5-25) from the floor of the first 20 minutes and the Saints missed all eight of three-point attempts.
• The Rams finished the conference contest with a 37.5 connection rate  (18-48) from the floor and 29.2 percentage (7-24) from three.
• Suffolk outrebounded the Saints, 41-31, converted its second chances into 13 points and had 19 points from its reserves. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk swept the regular season series with Emmanuel for the first time since 2001-02.
• The Rams won their 11th contest versus the Saints in the all-time series.
• With the victory, Suffolk has its first double digit win season (10) since matching that number in the 2012-13 season when the Rams went 10-16 overall.  
• With 13 points in the first half, Mulson had his seventh collegiate contest with double digits and fourth consecutive outing with 10 or more points.
• Mulson notched his second double-double of the season with his second-ever collegiate contest with 10 or more rebounds.
• Mulson matched his career-high caroms with 10.
• Mulson had his second straight outing with 20-plus points.
• Duffy finished the night with 10 points to register double digits in 14 outings and four consecutive contests this year.
• Jeff Juron kept the usual starting line-up in Jim Djema, Hagopian, Duffy, Mulson and Kevin Querusio. 

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
After three games on the road, Suffolk returns to the friendly confines of Regan Gymnasium Saturday, Jan. 26 for a Rams' basketball double feature. The men's squad takes the Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court at 3 p.m. against Mount Ida after the women's 1 p.m. contest against Saint Joseph's (Maine).