Men’s Basketball Bested by Wentworth, 83-76

BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball dropped a Beantown and Conference of New England (CNE) contest to Wentworth, 83-76, Saturday afternoon at Tansey Gymnasium.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 76 | Wentworth 83
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-6, 5-3 CNE) | Wentworth (4-11, 3-5 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Out of a 4-all game, the Leopards leapt ahead 17-8 behind a 13-4 run at the 13:27 mark. Suffolk fought back and leveled the playing field at 21-all three minutes later.  

The score would go on to even three more times in the opening quarter with the last coming on the front end of a trip to the free throw line by Nathaniel Smith. Smith sunk the second freebie to give Wentworth the upper hand, which it took into the locker room, 43-40.   

The teams traded hoops out of half time and things were even at 47 with five minutes removed from the second stanza. 

Wentworth rallied around a 10-2 stretch to put Suffolk in an eight-point, 57-49 hole with just under 12 minutes remaining on the clock. 

The Rams attempted comeback after comeback and behind upperclassmen Danny Yardemian and Keenan Robertson the gap was sliced to three, 71-68, at the 5:17 mark. 

A near three-minute scoring lull by Suffolk allowed Wentworth to build a double digit distance, 80-70.  

A pair of quick hoops, one from Yardemian followed by one by Cole LeVangie ended the Rams draught and make it a two-possession game, 80-74, with 1:12 to play. 

That's as close as Suffolk would get as it ended up gambling by sending the Leopards to the free throw line down the stretch where Wentworth locked up the victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Robertson finished with 23 points, six rebounds and two steals. 
• Yardemian added 20 points, seven handouts, three boards and one takeaway. 
• Verdile poured in 15 points, all from behind-the-arc, with a pair of helpers and steals, respectively, featured on his stat line as well.
• Jake Gomez added five assists, four points, foure rebounds and two steals. 
• Devin Dzikas pitched in six points, five dimes, one carom and one steal.
• Suffolk shot 48.8 percent (30-62) from the floor, 34.5 percent (10-29) from 3-point land and did not miss (6-6) at the charity stripe. 
• The Leopards outrebounded the Rams, 29-24. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Dzikas had a personal-best five assists. 
• Yardemian produced a season-best 20 points.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk returns to the friendly confines of Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court Wednesday, Jan. 22 for a midweek CNE match versus Western New England at 7:30 p.m.