Men's Basketball Round Out Regular Season With 70-59 Win

The Suffolk University Men's Basketball team closed out the 2012-13 regular season with a 70-59 victory over the Rivier University Raiders on Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

Four players on the Suffolk side finished the day in double digits in scoring as the Rams finish with a 10-15 overall mark and GNAC record of 8-10.

Prior to the game Suffolk honored the five senior members of this year's team: Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, Mass.), Colin Halpin (Melrose, Mass.), Chris Torres (Brockton, Mass.), Adam Shomer (Montreal, Quebec), and Jhonneris Mendez (Boston, Mass.) The quintet combined for 47 points.

Junior Tom Poitras (Bow, N.H.) led all players in scoring on the day as he posted 23 points for the Raiders. Poitras was one of three players for Rivier to finish the game with seven rebounds.

It was a slow paced first half as Suffolk went into the break with a slim 28-27 lead.

Things would change in the second half midway through the period as the Rams scored 11 straight points in a two-minute span as they extended their lead to 12 points at 54-42.

Suffolk would shoot 51.6-percent from the field as a team in the second half (16-for-31). Torres would pace the Rams offense in the second period as he 11 of his game's 13 points over the final twenty minutes of action.

Halpin finished the game with a team-high 19 points. With Rivier trailing by nine with a little over a minute left, Halpin sealed their fate with a big steal going end to end of the court putting in the fast break layup. He made it a three-point bonus play draining the ensuing free-throw as he was fouled on the play to put the Rams back up by a dozen.

Pepjodnovic finished the night just shy of yet another double-double as he had 10 points along with a team-high nine rebounds.

Sophomore Matt Powers (Westwood, Mass.) chipped in with 17 points off the bench for the Rams on a 6-for-10 performance from the field.

Senior Brian Troy (Westmoreland, N.H.) chipped in with nine points for the Raiders, while junior Shawn Gareau (Hardwick, Mass.) tallied eight. The loss drops Rivier to a 10-15 overall mark on the year, while they finish their GNAC schedule with a 6-12 mark.

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference playoffs with open on with their quarterfinal round on Tuesday as the league rounds out the rest of their games this afternoon. Pairings will be announced later this weekend.