NEWTON, Mass. – Sophomore Thomas Duffy (Fairfield, Conn.) scored a game-high 24 points Saturday afternoon as Suffolk University defeated Lasell College, 60-49, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game at the Lasell Athletic Center.
Duffy was one of three Rams to score in double figures as freshman Brendan Mulson (Albany, N.Y.) tallied 13 points and sophomore George Grillakis (Lowell, Mass.) added 10. Suffolk snapped a four-game losing skid and improved to 12-11 overall and evened its conference record at 7-7.
Junior Tim Blair (Newington, Conn) led the Lasers in scoring with 14 points, despite making just 2-of-10 shots from three-point range. Senior Derek McMahon (Hatfield, Mass.) scored 11 points, sophomore Stefan Masciarelli (Northbridge, Mass) added 10, and senior Dannie Moore (Orlando, Fla.) contributed nine points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench. Lasell had a three-game winning streak stopped and is now 11-12 overall and tied for third place in the GNAC with a 9-5 conference mark.
Lasell had a 9-3 lead in the early going as freshman Liam Jacobs (Plainfield, Conn.), Blair and McMahon all hit three-pointers in the first three minutes. Suffolk responded with seven unanswered points to gain the advantage, as junior Jim Djema (Greenwich, Conn.) drained a three and Duffy and junior Michael Hagopian (Watertown, Mass.) hit buckets.
The teams traded baskets the next 10 minutes until Suffolk pulled ahead 24-18 on a traditional three-point play by Duffy with 4:36 on the clock. Lasell came back to tie it at 24-all, but the Rams pulled ahead 28-24 at the intermission.
Lasell was within two points after a Masciarelli jumper two minutes into the second half, but Djema and Mulson hit back-to-back threes to push the Suffolk margin up to eight points, 36-28. The Lasers again whittled the deficit down to one point (39-38) at the 10-minute mark after Moore's traditional three-point play, but Suffolk answered with six unanswered points, two from freshman Nathaniel Ilebode (Malden, Mass.) and four from Grillakis, to get the margin back up to seven points, 45-38.
The Lasers kept battling, getting the deficit down to four points (47-43) with 7:25 remaining, but Suffolk knocked down three straight three-pointers, two by Mulson and one by Duffy, to open up its largest lead of the day, 56-43, with three minutes to play. Lasell could not come back after that and Suffolk ended up winning by 11.
Both teams shot below 40 percent from the field, as Lasell matched its season low with 19 field goals and made just 5-of-27 from beyond the arc (18.5 percent).
The teams wind up the regular season next week with GNAC action as Lasell visits Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on Tuesday, February 13, at 7:30 before returning home to host Rivier University Saturday, February 17, on Senior Day at 3:00 p.m. Suffolk plays its final home game Tuesday vs. Rivier at 7 p.m. before the regular season finale Saturday at Mount Ida College at 3:00 p.m.
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