BOSTON – Suffolk men's basketball jumped out to a fast start and never looked back Saturday afternoon, rolling to an 84-55 Conference of New England (CNE) victory over the University of New England action at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court.

Prior to tip-off, senior Connor Strickland was honored for his playing career as part of Senior Day festivities.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 84 | University of New England 55
RECORDS: Suffolk (14-9, 10-4 CNE) | (11-12, 7-7 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• UNE was forced into two early timeouts as Suffolk exploded out of the gates, building a 12-0 lead with six points from James Jones and four from Nick Verdile.
• After some back-and-forth buckets, the Rams added to their advantage with three-pointers from Declan Davis and Hatcher Nordquist to make it 24-8 in favor of Suffolk with 9:34 remaining in the first half.
• The teams traded baskets the rest of the half, but Suffolk continued its hot shooting from beyond- the -rc with makes from Verdile and Jordan Morganstein to take a 41-21 lead into the break.
• Out of halftime, Greg Keane threw down two emphatic dunks to spark an 8-2 run and push the edge to 49-24 with 17:11 to play.
• The Nor'easters continued to battle, eventually trimming the deficit to 19 at 51-32 with just over ten minutes remaining. However, Suffolk outscored UNE 33-23 over the final 10 minutes to seal the commanding 84-55 victory.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Suffolk shot 50.0 percent from the field and held the Nor'easters to 31.1 shooting percentage, including 25.0 percent from three-point range.
• The Rams outrebounded UNE, 48-32, and dished out nine more assists, 16-7.
• Suffolk held advantages in bench points (27-24), second-chance points (12-6), points in the paint (36-28), and fast-break points (7-0).
• Verdile led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting, adding six rebounds and five steals.
• Davis added 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting with two rebounds.
• Jones contributed 14 points and hauled in seven rebounds.
• Keane posted 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting and made his presence felt defensively with five blocks.
• Nordquist finished with 12 points and six rebounds.

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk improved to 19-12 in the all-time series.
• The Rams are now 9-6 at home against UNE in the series.
• The blue-and-gold have now won four straight meetings against the Nor'easters.
• Under head coach Jeff Juron, the Rams are 8-2 versus the Nor'easters.
• Max Neelley's four points tied a career-best.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is back in action on Tuesday, Feb. 17, when it hosts Endicott in a midweek CNE matchup at 7:30 p.m.