Anna Maria Bests Men’s Basketball, 63-42

BOSTON – Coming out of a tied half, the Suffolk men's basketball team could not keep up with a red-hot Anna Maria squad that nearly doubled the Rams offensive output in the second stanza to take down the hosts, 63-42, Tuesday night at Regan Gymnasium.   

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 42, Anna Maria 63
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-11, 6-7 GNAC) | Anna Maria (7-15, 4-9 GNAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
After the lead flipped in favor of the AMCATS, Thomas Duffy locked the game at 8-all 5:38 into the action. The sophomore's triple jump started an 8-0 Suffolk run that featured five points from the Fairfield, Connecticut local and gave the Rams a 13-8 edge at the 12:55 minute mark. 

Anna Maria took its first timeout of the night to take things over, but Brendan Mulson and Michael Hagopian kept things going for the blue-and-gold out of the break to make the AMCATS huddle up once again just 1:17 later. 

The second TO did the trick for the visitors, who out did the Rams, 16-8 over the final 11:38 to level the playing field at 24-24 at half time. 

Out of the locker room Anna Maria gained a 26-24 edge before Suffolk strung together six consecutive to grab a 30-26 advantage. Back-to-back buckets by the AMCATS turned the tides once again in favor of the visitors, 31-30. Mulson put the Rams in front once again as the rookie coupled two hoops together to give the blue-and-gold a 35-31 cushion with 13:31 to play. 

Anna Maria took over from there with an 8-0 run followed by a 12-0 stretch that gave the visitors a 54-37 advantage with 6:10 on the clock. 

The Rams could not find their grove offensively and the AMCATS put on cruise control from there to coast to the 63-42 victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Mulson led the Rams on both ends of the hardwood with a 13-point, seven-rebound effort. The freshman forward shot 5-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-5 from downtown to pace Suffolk.
• Duffy finished the night with 11 points and seven caroms, including six on the defensive end, to go with three steals, one block and one dime.
• Kevin Querusio contributed eight points, four boards, four handouts and a pair of block.
• Suffolk struggled from the field, shooting just 31.3 percent (15-48) from the floor, 33.3 percent (7-21) from behind-the-arc and 41.7 percent (5-12) from the charity stripe.
• The AMCATS commanded the glass out rebounding the Rams, 45-26, led by 19 from Mike Rapoza, who added 11 points. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Mulson notched double figures for the 11th time this season and second straight game.
• Duffy put together his ninth consecutive contest with double digit points and surpassed 10-plus points for the 19th time this season

POST-GAME PIC
 

COMING UP
Suffolk travels to Lasell Saturday, Feb. 10 for a 4 p.m. clash with the Lasers.