Men’s Basketball Let Down in OT at Lasell, 94-83

NEWTON, Mass. – In a game that featured 19 lead changes and 15 ties, Suffolk men's basketball came out on the wrong side of a 94-83 overtime decision against Lasell Saturday afternoon at the Lasers Athletic Center. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 83 | Lasell 94
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-8, 1-2 GNAC) | Lasell (6-11, 3-0 GNAC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first three minutes the lead flipped twice and the scored tied two times before the hosts edged out the visitors, 9-5. Brendan Mulson pushed momentum in the Rams' favor as the junior's layup sparked a 9-0 stretch. That stretch, that featured five points from Max Bonney-Liles, made it a 14-9 game in the blue-and-gold's favor eight minutes into the action.  

The game of runs swayed into the Lasers favor who turned the tides in their favor, 18-14. That advantage would not stay long, however, as Suffolk shifted things back to even the score at 21-all with 8:42 before half time.  

Jonathan Eng put the Rams back in front on their next possession when the senior sunk a triple. The lead ping-ponged from team-to-team over the next three minutes with the back-and-forth action ending with the Rams in front, 35-33, after Eng put away his second trey of the day.  

The flip-flopping continued with Lasell using a 7-0 span to exchange leads for the 13th time and put the Rams in a three-point, 40-37, hole with 2:49 to go before the break.  

Suffolk trailed the from there until Connor Byrne buried a freebie to lock matters for the eighth time on the afternoon at 41 with 1:50 left on the clock. 

Thomas Duffy's near half-court shot as time expired erased the leveled playing to send Suffolk into the locker rooms ahead, 44-41. 

Duffy's highlight-reel hoop helped Suffolk cling to the lead for the majority of the second stanza, but the Lasers hung around just enough to keep things interesting.  

With less than seven minutes remaining in regulation, Lasell made moves, evening the score at 63-all. From there, the score equalized four more times before the hosts flipped the script in its favor, 76-75, with 1:46 to go in the second half.  

That edge extended to four with under a minute to play. Buckets from Jarrett Byrne and Mulson knotted matters at 78 as time expired to force the extra session. 

To open overtime the foes went hoop-for-hoop with the lead switching with every bucket. Eng's fourth three of the afternoon put the Rams ahead, 83-30, but the Lasers responded on their next possession to regain the edge for the hosts.  

Suffolk's answer never came though. On their next possession the Rams missed a bucket and their next two they turned the ball over, which allowed Lasell to build a six-point gap. From there the Lasers took care of business at the charity stripe and used the clock in to hold on for the victory.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Mulson provided 23 points to Suffolk's offense. He shot 10-for-18 from the floor with nine rebounds to lead the Rams' effort on the glass as well. 
• Bonney-Liles and Eng each had 16 points. Liles' came off a 5-for-10 showing from the field with five helpers, three rebounds and one takeaway to his credit. Eng went 6-for-9 from the floor with a 4-for-6 effort from downtown with four caroms, two dimes and two steals. 
• As a team, Suffolk shot 44.4 percent (32-72) on the day, 33.3 percent (8-24) from three-point land and 64.7 percent (11-17) at the free throw line. 
• The Rams outrebounded the Lasers, 42-40.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Lasell went into overtime for the third time in the all-time series, first since Nov. 23, 2010. 
• The Lasers defeated the Rams for the first time in OT. 
• Suffolk played its first extra session game of the year and first since defeating Western New England, 91-77 in OT Jan. 14, 2019. 
• The Rams played in their fourth OT game under Jeff Juron's guidance. 
• Suffolk moved to 2-2 when playing more than 40 minutes with Juron on the bench.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Suffolk wraps up a road trip Wednesday, Jan. 25 at Johnson & Wales at 7:30 p.m.