Men’s Basketball Outlasted in Overtime by Nichols, 102-98

BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball was outdone by Nichols in overtime, 102-98, in a Commonwealth Coast Conference contest that featured eight lead changes and 11 tied scores Saturday afternoon at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 98 | Nichols 102
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-7, 4-4 CCC) | Nichols (12-3, 6-1 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The lead flipped flopped five times and tied three in the first four minutes. Out of the third even score Jake Gomez ignited an 11-2 Rams run over the next four minutes that pushed the host ahead by nine, 20-11. 

Suffolk continuously flirted with a double-digit distance, but time after time the Bison managed to get the margin back to one possession.

Out of Nichols timeout with 6:59 left on the clock, back-to-back buckets from Keenan Robertson and Owen Walters gave the blue-and-gold a 10-put cushion, 38-28, for the first time on the afternoon.  

That was short lived as Nichols knocked down the gap to four four times with the last coming with 20 seconds to go before halftime.  

On the Rams next possession, a red-hot Evan Cook knocked down his fifth trey of the first 20 minutes and was sent to the line for a chance at a four-point play. The graduate student's attempt was off the mark and Suffolk went into halftime up, 52-45.  

See-saw action consumed the second stanza. Suffolk maintained the upper hand, 73-70, with 8:34 remaining in regulation.   

Tavone Jones sandwiched long balls around a Robertson lay-up to push the Bison in front, 76-75, the visitors first lead since the first half. On Nichols' next offensive opportunity, Jason Ofcarcik slammed a dunk down to pad the edge to a full possession and forced Jeff Juron to take a timeout with the Rams down, 78-75. 

A thrilling ending ensued as the playing field leveled four times before Suffolk regained the lead on Cook's seventh triple of the day with 2:50 left to play.  

Cook's 3-pointer was answered by a bucket from behind the arc from Jones and things locked at 89-all at 2:34. 

The flair for the dramatic continued the rest of the way. Nichols took the lead again and a pair of freebies from Robertson evened things at 91-all with 32.2 seconds left.  

The Bison had possession out of a Suffolk timeout and used the shot clock to its favor. Jones' layup was off the mark and Mykel Derring's tip in fell in Danny Yardemian's hands with 1.1 on the clock.  

Suffolk's hail mary was off the mark and the conference clash would be decided in overtime.  

Nearly half of the extra stanza was removed from the board time wise until a team scored. The Bison was the first to bury a bucket and scored six straight to force Suffolk to play catchup. 

The Rams went hoop-for-hoop with Nichols the rest of the way including Nick Verdile's baseline three with seven seconds left to keep the host in it, 101-98, but time played in the visitors favor and Dominic Mello's free throw sealed the victory for Nichols.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Robertson registered 29 points, eight caroms, six assists and one block.
• Cook went 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first half. He finished the outing with a 7-for-10 effort from 3-point range. He put together a 24-point, five-rebound, five-assist day.
• Danny Yardemian produced 21 points on a 9-for-15 day from the floor. He added five caroms, three handouts and two steals. 
• Cole LeVangie rounded out the Rams with double figures with 11 points. The junior was on the verge of a double-double with a team-high nine boards to go along with one helper. 
• Nichols outrebounded Suffolk, 40-37.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk moved to 36-18 all-time versus Nichols.
• In Boston, the Rams are 22-10 all-time against the Bison.
• Suffolk and Nichols went into overtime for the third time in the all-time series, first since 1996. 
• The Rams moved to 2-1 in overtime versus the Bison all-time. 
• Suffolk is now 3-5 versus Bison in the Juron era. 
• Suffolk needed overtime to decide a winner for the first time since Jan. 22, 2022 at Western New England. The Rams fell in that game, 88-81. 
• The OT outing is Suffolk's second-ever in a CCC contest. 
• The Rams are 0-2 in overtime in CCC games. 
• Cook made a personal-best seven three pointers. 
• Yardemian notched a career-high in points (21) and field goals made (9). 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk spends next week on the road as it visits Hartford Wednesday, Jan. 17 before stopping by Roger Williams Saturday, Jan. 20.