No. 4 Tufts Takes Down Men’s Basketball, 54-47

MEDFORD, Mass. – Suffolk men's basketball was handed its first loss of the season by No. 4 Tufts, 54-47, Tuesday night at Cousens Gym.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 47 | No. 4 Tufts 54
RECORDS: Suffolk (3-1) | No. 4 Tufts (1-2)  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Distance remained at one possession at the midway point in Tufts' favor, 13-10, as Suffolk took a timeout. 
• The Rams fell in an eight-point hole, 24-16, with just under three minutes to in the opening half. 
• Treys from Harrison Neil and Nick Verdile sandwiched a Jumbos 2-point field go the rest of the way to slice the gap down to four, 26-22, as the teams went to the locker rooms. 
• Greg Keane converted his first bucket of the night on Suffolk's second possession of the second stanza, but Tufts responded with eight unanswered to build a double digit distance, 34-24, at the 16:33 mark. 
• The gap grew to as many as dozen, 42-30, four minutes later, but the Rams rallied behind an 8-2 stretch to pull within a pair of possessions, 44-38, with 7:08 left on the clock. 
• For every response the blue-and-gold mounted, the Jumbos answered and rebuilt a 10-plus cushion. 
• Down 11, 49-38, at the 6:14 mark, Suffolk once again battled back. This time a Marquis White layup was followed by a Verdile long ball, his fifth of the night, to cut the margin back to six, 49-43. 
• After Zion Watt buried a free throw for Tufts to lengthen the host lead to seven, 50-43, the game went scoreless for over three minutes. 
• The Jumbos ended the scoring lull with just over one minute to go and Suffolk found its offensive grove once again, but there was not enough time to complete a comeback. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Verdile carried Suffolk's scoring with 18 points behind a 6-for-13 showing from the floor that included a 5-for-9 effort from downtown. The junior added five boards, all on the defensive end, and two assists. 
• Jones added 11 points as he shot 3-for-5 from 3-point land to go along with six caroms and one helper. 
• Keane, White and Neil all provided six points. 
• White's stat line featured five dimes, four boards and one steal.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Aston Whittingham grabbed a personal-best four rebounds.
• Hatcher Nordquist had the first steal of his collegiate career. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk heads to Vacation Land this weekend for the Colby Classic. The Rams will face the host Colby Friday, Nov. 21 at 5:00 p.m., before a Saturday, Nov. 22 showdown with Southern Maine at 3:00 p.m.