Suffolk University’s men’s basketball team made it to the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship game, where their quest for a championship came up short with a 79-76 loss to Roger Williams University Feb. 24.
Before reaching the championship game, the sixth-seeded Rams defeated the third-seeded Endicott College Gulls with an 80-79 overtime win in the quarterfinals before eliminating the two-seeded Western New England University Golden Bears in the semifinals Feb. 22.
The game against the Gulls came down to the dying seconds of overtime, with Jake Gomez putting the Rams ahead for good with four seconds left. Suffolk was able to defeat the Golden Bears in regulation, winning 74-63, snapping their five-game losing streak.
“Our focus going into that game was standing up to their physicality and being physically tough, defending and getting the job done on the glass,” said head coach Jeff Juron. “We did not think it was gonna be a high-scoring game, and it wasn’t. You gotta be up for the physical challenge if you’re gonna beat them, and I thought our guys were that night.”
Suffolk fell to the Hawks in the title game as Roger Williams shot 14 for 26 from three-point range. The lead changed four times in the last 7:27 of the first half before Suffolk went to the locker room with a 38-35 lead.
Roger Williams took the lead shortly after the second half started, prompting a timeout from Juron. The lead switched three times and tied five times in eight minutes to lead to a 74-74 deadlock with three minutes to play. Suffolk could only score two more points to Roger Williams’ five, resulting in the Hawks winning the conference championship.
“We played a great game. For every run that they made, despite them shooting at that level for 40 minutes, we were right there at the end with a chance to win it,” said Juron. “That’s a credit to our guys and a credit to their ability to withstand that shooting performance in a really loud and hectic environment.”
All three playoff games were on the road as the Rams faced three teams seeded higher in the CCC playoffs. Juron credits his team for staying tough in three straight road showdowns.
“Sometimes when you’re on the road and you have the crowd against you, those runs can feel overwhelming because it’s a combination of the score plus the sound and the feeling in the gym,” said Juron. “The physical, mental poise and toughness of our guys to just get on to the next thing, to withstand the runs and be able to stay in the moment and focus on what needs to be done on our next play is easy to talk about but hard to do, and I thought our guys were great at that all three games.”
Juron emphasized the importance of the championship run and looks forward to a lot of the team returning next year.
“Proud of the way we performed last week. It was an up and down season at times but we definitely played our best and our most poised basketball down the stretch so I’m proud of that,” said Juron.
