Men’s Basketball Secures Season-Opening Win Behind Second-Half Surge at ENC, 68-54

QUINCY, Mass. – Down one at the half, Suffolk men's basketball commanded the second set of 20 minutes, outscoring the Lions, 40-25, to take down Eastern Nazarene, 68-54, Wednesday night at the Lahue Athletic Center to start the 2023-24 campaign with a win. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 68 | Eastern Nazarene 54
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-0) | Eastern Nazarene (0-1)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
In a first frame that featured six lead changes and one tied score, Suffolk found itself trailing one, 29-28, as the teams headed to the locker room.  

A quick 7-0 spurt by the Rams out of half time pushed the blue-and-gold ahead, 35-29, at the 17:05 minute mark.  

See-saw ensued, but Suffolk managed to hold onto the lead, 43-41, when head coach Jeff Juron took a timeout with 11:17 left on the clock. 

Out of the huddle, freebies by the Lions' Martini Kamaga leveled the playing field at 43-all. From there, the lead flipped back-and-forth with a long-ball by Evan Cook giving the Rams the advantage once again, 48-46, with just under 10 minutes to play in the second half.  

That triple by Cook ignited a 20-2 Suffolk stretch that padded the Rams cushion to 65-48 with 3:31 remaining. Over that span, the sophomore transfer was responsible for a dozen of the blue-and-gold's points.  

Thanks to that Suffolk scoring frenzy, the Rams were able to put on cruise control the rest of the way to victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cook finished with a game-high 24 points behind an 8-for-13 showing from the field and a 3-for-7 effort from downtown. His stat line featured two boards, one assist, one block and one steal as well. 
• Danny Yardemian put together a 16-point performance, 14 of which game in the second stanza. He shot 6-for-11 from the floor and had five caroms, three helpers and two takeaways. 
• Keenan Robertson compiled an all-around effort of nine points, eight rebounds and two helpers.
• Jake Gomez and Cole LeVangie added eight points and seven points, respectively. The former pulled down five boards, while the latter grabbed six caroms. 
• Suffolk shot 49.1 percent (26-53) from the floor and converted just 25.0 percent (5-20) of its three-point attempts. At the line, the Rams went 11-for-15 (73.3%). 
• Eastern Nazarene won the battle on the boards, 33-30. 
• Suffolk turned the Lions' 19 turnovers into 18 points, while ENC converted the Rams' 13 mishaps into 14 points. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk won its sixth straight season opener. 
• The Rams are now 27-29 in first games of the season dating back to 1967-68. 
• Under Juron's guidance, Suffolk sports a 7-2 game one record. 
• The Rams began their season on the road for the first time since 2021-22. 
• Suffolk is 7-11 on the road in its season debut. 
• Suffolk leveled the all-time series with Eastern Nazarene at 20-20. 
• On the road, the blue-and-gold moved to 5-9 versus ENC. 
• Suffolk defeated ENC on the road for the first time since Nov. 15, 2011. 
• The Rams are unbeaten, 2-0, versus the Lions with Juron on the bench. 
• Suffolk coupled back-to-back wins together for the first time since stringing three wins in a row from Nov. 17, 2009 through Nov. 15, 2011. 
• Cook and Yardemian made their Suffolk debuts. 
• Nick Verdile (4 assists), Owen Walters (4 points, 1 rebound), and Cem Uner (1 assist) made their collegiate debuts. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is off until its home debut when it welcomes Colby Sawyer to Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court Wednesday, Nov. 15 for a 7:30 p.m. match-up.