Men’s Basketball Outlasts Hartford, 70-68

BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball managed to return to the win column after a two-game skid as it snuck by Hartford, 70-68, in Conference of New England Tuesday night at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. Four of the five Rams starters produced double figures to push the blue-and-gold to victory. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 70 | Hartford 68
RECORDS: Suffolk (12-9, 8-3 CNE) | Hartford (12-9, 6-6 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After leading for most of the opening stages, the Rams were held scoreless for 5:46 and outscored 10-0 during the stretch to fall behind 12-7 at the 12:50 mark.
• Suffolk responded with an 11-3 run, highlighted by consecutive three-pointers from Abdiel Zapata and Hatcher Nordquist, to reclaim the lead, 18-15, with 8:58 left in the first half.
• The Rams briefly trailed 20-18 before erupting for a 13-4 run, sparked by a fastbreak dunk and a three from James Jones, forcing a Hartford timeout and giving Suffolk a 31-22 edge at the 2:18 mark.
• Hartford closed the half on a 6-2 run to cut the Suffolk lead to 33-28 at the break.
• The teams traded runs to open the second half, with Hartford using a 7-0 spurt to regain the lead before the blue-and-gold answered with a 7-0 run of it own to go up 40-35 with 17:23 remaining.
• A three-pointer from Jaron Bloomfield made it a one-possession game at 45-42, but Suffolk answered with its second scoring run of the half, as four different Rams scored to build a 53-43 advantage with 9:21 to play.
• Back-to-back threes from Nordquist gave the Rams their largest lead of the night at 61-49. After trading baskets, Hartford rattled off an 8-0 run to pull within three, 64-61, with under two minutes remaining.
• Clutch free throws from Nordquist and Nick Verdile sealed the 70-68 victory for Suffolk.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Verdile led Suffolk with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting to pair with two steals.
• Jones followed with 14 points and eight boards and was strong defensively with two takeaways.
• Nordquist added 14 points and dished out a team-best seven assists and had three steals.
• Keane contributed 13 points behind a 6-for-10 effort from the floor to go along with five caroms, four swats and one assist. 
• Suffolk shot 34.8 percent (23-66) from the field and 82.4 percent (14-17) from the charity stripe. 
• The Hawks outrebounded the Rams 42-39. 
• Suffolk capitalized on Hartford's 20 turnovers and turned them into 18 points. 

NOTEWORTHY 

• The Rams moved to 5-1 in the all-time series.
• Suffolk remains perfect against the Hawks in Boston at 3-0.
• Jeff Juron improved to 5-1 versus the Hawks in his coaching career.
• Zapata secured career highs in points (6), rebounds (8), and assists (2), and steals (2).
• Harrison Neil tied a collegiate best with ten rebounds. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk heads back on the road on Saturday, Feb. 7 for a CNE matchup at Nichols with tip-off slated for 3:00 p.m.