CCC Semis Sends Men’s Basketball to Western New England Thursday

SUFFOLK vs. WESTERN NEW ENGLAND
Date Time Venue Video Stats Series Last Meeting   Last Suffolk Win Streak	Thursday, Feb. 22 7:30 PM Alumni Healthful Living Center Springfield, Mass. CCC Sports Network WNEGoldenBears.com 9-19 Jan. 31, 2024, W, 78-65 Dec. 4, 2021, W, 100-62 L5

BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball's quest for a CCC crown continues Thursday, Feb. 22 as the sixth-seeded Rams head out to Springfield, Massachusetts to take on second-seed Western New England in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal showdown. 

SOCIAL SAYINGS
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2024 CCC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Tuesday, Feb. 20 – First Round
Game 1: #5 Roger Williams defeated #4 Wentworth, 84-74 – Box Score
Game 2: #6 Suffolk defeated #3 Endicott, 80-79 (OT) – Box Score
Game 3: #2 Western New England defeated #7 Curry, 91-50 – Box Score 

Thursday, Feb. 22 – Semifinals 
Game 4: #5 Roger Williams at #1 Nichols – 7:00 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video
Game 5: #6 Suffolk at #2 Western New England – 7:30 p.m. – Live Stats | Live Video 

Saturday, Feb. 24 – Championship
Game 6: Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5

RAMS IN THE POSTSEASON

• Suffolk is in the midst of its third straight appearance in the CCC Tournament. 
• The Rams third CCC Tournament trip marks the 19th overall and 11th straight conference postseason run for the blue-and-gold.
• The Rams are the sixth seed in the conference postseason for the first time since 2017-18. 
• Over its 18 conference tournament appearances, Suffolk has advanced to the semifinals six times including this season. 
• The semifinal run is the second in the CCC tenure, first since 2022. 
• Suffolk is 1-4 in a conference semifinal with its lone win coming in 2002.
• The Rams have gone onto the championship contest once in program history, in 2002 when it hoisted the GNAC trophy. 
• It is the second time in program history that Suffolk advanced to the league semifinals as the sixth seed, first since 2017-18. Both semifinal trips as the sixth seed have come in the Jeff Juron era. 
• Under Juron's guidance, Suffolk is 3-7 in the postseason and 2-2 in the CCC Tournament. 
• The Rams needed overtime to decide a winner in a postseason contest for the first time in Tuesday's CCC First Round battle at third-seed Endicott. Suffolk won that tangle, 80-79.  

LAST TIME OUT
Jake Gomez swished a baseline, short corner jumper with four seconds remaining in overtime and the sixth-seeded Rams defense denied the third-ranked Gulls over the final few seconds to send the Suffolk men's basketball team past Endicott, 80-79, in the CCC First Round Tuesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium.  

MORE READING: Men's Basketball Upsets Endicott in OT in CCC First Round, 80-79

RAMS RUNDOWN
Suffolk upstaged Endicott in overtime, 80-79, in the CCC First Round in to carry a 14-11 overall record into the semifinals.  

The upperclassmen trio of Keenan Robertson (17.2 ppg), Evan Cook (15.1 ppg) and Danny Yardemian (14.0 ppg) pace the Rams' 75.4 points per game offensive output. 

Robertson tops the team on the glass with 6.4 rpg. Yardemian supplies 5.4 rpg to the blue-and-gold's 37.2 rpg effort that receives 5.1 rpg from Cole LeVangie.  

GET TO KNOW THE GOLDEN BEARS
Thanks to its convincing 90-51 CCC First Round win over Curry, Western New England sits 19-7 on the season.  

Two everyday starters in Gavin Greene and Jake Harrison pace the Golden Bears scoring unit with 15.0 ppg and 13.7 ppg, respectively. Tim Restall has added a 15.0 ppg spark to the scoring second semester, Matt Houde factors into the offense as well with 10.3 ppg off the bench.  

Harrison holds a team-high 7.6 rpg with Restall chipping in 6.3 rpg and Greene's 5.6 rpg rounding out the top three rebounding threats. 

WE MEET AGAIN
Western New England swept the regular-season two-game series with Suffolk. The Rams fell in Springfield, Massachusetts, 76-50, Jan. 9, before falling to the Golden Bears, 78-65, in Boston, Jan. 31.  

MORE READING: Men's Basketball's Streak Stopped at WNE, 76-50 | WNE Ends Men's Basketball's Streak, 78-65 

INSIDE THE SERIES

• Suffolk is 9-19 all-time against Western New England. 
• The Rams have fallen in five in a row versus the Golden Bears. 
• Suffolk looks for its first win over WNE since a 100-62 decision Dec. 4, 2021. 
• In Springfield, the Rams are 4-10 against WNE. 
• Suffolk is 5-9 when hosting the Golden Bears in Boston.
• The blue-and-gold is 2-5 versus WNE under Jeff Juron's guidance. 
• Suffolk and Western New England have needed overtime to decide a winner three times. 
• The Rams are 1-2 when taking WNE to OT. 
• The last time the blue-and-gold and the Golden Bears went into OT the Rams lost, 88-81, Jan. 22, 2022. 
• Suffolk and Western New England will meet in the CCC Tournament for the first time. 
• The Rams are 0-3 in a conference postseason contest versus the Golden Bears with those three meetings coming under the GNAC umbrella in 2001, 2003 and 2006. 
• Suffolk and WNE will battle in a conference semifinal for the second time, first since the 2001 GNAC Semis, which the Golden Bears won, 94-84.  

EYES ON THE GAME

WHAT'S NEXT?
The winner of Thursday's semifinal showdown earns its ticket to play for the CCC Crown Saturday, Feb. 24 against the victor of top-seeded Nichols versus fifth-seed Roger Williams.