As the 2012-13 winter sports seasons wind down, Suffolk University earned 10 postseason awards combined throughout their three sports teams.
Two Men's Basketball players were selected to the 2012-13 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC)
All-Conference teams. Senior Colin
Halpin (Melrose, Mass.) was a first-team selection,
while senior Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.) garnered
third-team honors.
Halpin finished the season with a team-best 16.5 points per game,
which was the fifth highest average among scorers in the GNAC. He
was a workhorse for the Rams as he logged an average of 34.7
minutes per game starting all 26 games this year and was Suffolk's
top scorer in seven contests. He earned GNAC Player of the Week
honors on December 3, and was also tabbed to the Courtyard by
Marriott Tip-Off Tournament in the Rams' season opening weekend
tilt at Roger Williams.
The senior forward etched his name into the Suffolk University
history books on December 1 of this season when he became the 27th
player in program history to reach the 1,000 career point milestone
club.
In 91 career games played, Halpin has scored 1,345 career points
which stands for the eleventh highest total in program history. He
averaged 14.8 points per game throughout his career, while he
finishes with Suffolk's third best mark from the free-throw line at
82.9-percent (252-for-304) in program history. Halpin also shot at
a 34.8-percent clip from the three-point line in his career. In 68
career GNAC games, Halpin finishes with 1,002 career points scored
while his 375 field goals made is the eighth best tally.
Pepdjonovic finishes the 2012-13 season with averages of 10.3
points per game and 10 rebounds per game to add to an already
impressive career. His rebounding average was the best in the GNAC
and stood for 36th among NCAA Division-III players. He also
finished in the top ten nationally with 2.7 blocked shots per
game.
In 102 career games played, Pepdjonovic recorded double-doubles in
66 contests. He is the all-time leader in both Suffolk University
history and GNAC history in career rebounds with 1,234 while he
also holds the record for both in blocked shots at 239. Pepdjonovic
is the eighth all-time scorer in program history scoring 1,439
career points, while his 600 field-goals made is the seventh most
among Suffolk University scorers and tenth among GNAC scorers. He
is the 18th highest scorer in GNAC history and is one of only three
players to record 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds
throughout a career. Pepdjonovic and Christos Tsiotos ('77) are the
only two players in Suffolk history to reach the grand total in
both career marks. He has been a GNAC All-Conference selection in
all four seasons and in each of his previous three seasons he was
among the top five in the nation among rebounders.
Freshman Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.)
was Suffolk's representative on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team.
Unni appeared in 26 games for the Rams averaging 11.3 points per
game. He finished with a team-high 78 assists on the year, while
his 34.8-percent shooting from the three-point line was the second
best average on the team.
Men’s Basketball finished the 2012-13 with a 10-16 overall
record. The Rams were the number six seed in the GNAC Tournament as
they held a 8-10 mark in conference play.
Hockey sophomore Tim
Sprague (Plymouth, Mass.) was an Honorable Mention
selection for the ECAC
Northeast Hockey All-Conference team for the 2012-13
season.
In 16 games this season Sprague led the Rams with 13 goals as he
added five assists for a total of 18 points. Sprague was a vital
part to the Suffolk offense. He had his season cut short on January
23rd as he broke his leg during a game against ECAC Northeast rival
Johnson & Wales University. At the time the Rams were in a
four-way tie for first place with a 3-2-2 conference mark and a
6-7-4 overall record. In seven conference games on the year,
Sprague tallied nine goals. His 1.28 goals per game average in ECAC
Northeast action would be the highest average had he played enough
games to qualify. Sprague's 13 goals this year are the most of a
Suffolk University player since the 2009-10 season.
Without Sprague in the lineup the Rams went 0-5-2 in their final
seven conference contests as they narrowly missed the playoffs this
season. They finished the season with a 6-13-6 record.
In two seasons with the Rams, Sprague has scored 16 goals and added
eight assists for a 24 point total in 36 games.
Women's Basketball Head Coach Ed Leyden
was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Basketball Coach of the Year for the 2012-13
season.
It is the sixth time Leyden has been recognized by his peers as the
league's top coach. He guided the Rams to a 21-7 mark during the
year as his team set the all-time Suffolk University record for
wins in a season by a basketball team. Leyden's Rams' finished with
the league's second best mark in-conference play with a 10-2
standing as they advanced to the conference finals for their fourth
time before falling to Emmanuel College, 68-45 on Saturday
afternoon. The Rams had the league's second stingiest defenses as
they only allowed opponents to a 52.5 points per game.
In 20 career seasons as a collegiate Head Coach, Leyden has a
career mark of 309-216 (.589 winning percentage).
Earlier this season Leyden won his 300th career collegiate game on
January 21 with a 79-52 victory over the Norwich University
Cadets.
He has now coached the Rams to 298 victories in 19 seasons with
Suffolk. He began his coaching career at Tufts University during
the 1993-94 season.
He has coached 22 players in his time at Suffolk who have received
All-Conference recognition by the GNAC. Of the 12 players in
Women's Basketball program history to record at least 1,000 career
points, ten have come under Leyden's tenure, including Suffolk's
all-time leading scorer Katie Norton '00 (1,502 points) who was a
member of the GNAC's inaugural Hall of Fame Class in 2010 and
Suffolk University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
Leyden was also a recipient of the Suffolk University Leadership
Award in 2007, and was named Coach of the Year by the Suffolk
University Student Government Association in 2012. This past
October he received Suffolk's "Pink Tie Award" handed out to a
Suffolk University male during October's Breast Cancer Awareness
month to someone who has demonstrated leadership in their support
for the cause.
Prior to his collegiate career, Leyden coached high school for 11
years. At Revere High School, his teams were 84-36, a .700 winning
percentage. His teams won the Greater Boston League Title his last
three seasons, going 44-1 in that stretch. Leyden was selected
Coach of the Year twice by the Massachusetts Basketball Coaches
Association. He was also named Boston Globe Coach of the Year. Ten
of his former high school players were named captains of their
college teams.
A pair of Women's Basketball players were named to the first
team All-Conference selections by the Great Northeast Athletic
Conference (GNAC) for the 2012-13 season.
Senior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) was one of
three guards selected to the league's top team. She averaged 12.6
points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game while her 128 total
assists were the most in the GNAC as she logged the most minutes of
any player at 924 through 28 games. Vienneau was also tabbed to the
GNAC's All-Tournament team as she helped lead the Rams to the
conference playoff finals.
It's been a historic season for Vienneau as she's reached milestone
markers in points, rebounds and assists. She became the first
player in Suffolk University Women's Basketball program history to
record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists for a career and
fourth GNAC player to do so. In 107 career games played, Vienneau
has scored 1,237 career points which stands for fourth in program
history while she holds Suffolk's record for assists with 443, the
fourth highest total in GNAC history. She's also collected 531
career rebounds. Vienneau's 158 three-point field goals made are
the second most treys in program history, while she's made 189
free-throws, the fourth highest total. Vienneau shot a team-best
82.4-percent from the line during the 2012-13 season.
Junior Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.) was named a
first-team selection at forward. Ruys led the Rams with a team-high
15.9 point per game average while she was fifth in the league
scoring 17.5 points in conference games. Ruys collected six
double-doubles on the year recording an average of seven rebounds
per game and led the Rams with 41 blocked shots. She was also named
to the GNAC's All-Tournament team averaging 16.7 points through
three games guiding the Rams to the finals. She was the Rams'
leading scorer in 14 of 28 contests during the 2012-13 season.
Ruys became the 12th member of the 1,000 career point club on
February 16 and only the second player to reach the career marker
in her junior season. Her 1,060 points in 76 career games is the
tenth highest point total in program history. Ruys currently holds
the best mark in Suffolk history from the free-throw line shooting
at an 81.3 percentage (248-for-305) while her 114 blocks are the
third most.
Senior Lindsey Rogers (Gloucester, Mass.) was
Suffolk's representative on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team. Rogers
averaged 5.6 points per game and three rebounds during the season.
In four years, Rogers averaged 6.7 points per game and 4.4 rebounds
in 107 career games. Both she and Vienneau served as team captains
this season.
Suffolk held a 21-7 overall mark on the year, the most wins of any
basketball team in school history. They were 10-2 in league play
earning the number two seed in the GNAC Tournament.
Suffolk has been selected as the number two in this year’s
Eastern College Athletic Conference (GNAC) Division-III New England
Tournament. They will open up the eight-team single elimination
bracket on Wednesday evening as they host Endicott College at
7:00pm.
For complete updates on all our teams with news, events and scores visit our website: www.gosuffolkrams.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook: gosuffolkrams
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