Behind a 2-0 week, Suffolk University men’s basketball kept themselves alive in the race for the No. 1 seed in the Conference of New England playoffs.
This week saw the third-seeded Rams pull off a huge victory over the second-seeded Western New England University, with senior captain Keenan Robertson making a huge 4-point play with just seconds remaining to get Suffolk the 65-64 win.
“It was just a great play by a great player who stepped up and knocked it down. We didn’t have a lot going on that possession, and that’s what great players do,” said head coach Jeff Juron.
With this hugely important win over WNE, Suffolk is now 2-0 against them this season which has huge implications should they end the season with the same record. If they end the season with the same record Suffolk will win the head-to-head tiebreaker, potentially giving them a first round bye in the playoffs if they get a top-two seed.
“Things are starting to come together. We have great leadership from our upperclassmen and we’re an experienced team overall,” said Juron.
Robertson continued his hot streak against Wentworth the following game, scoring 36 points on 13-17 shooting. The Rams blew Wentworth out 95-69, capping off their highly successful week.
“Robertson’s already established himself as one of the best offensive players in New England, but he’s really improved this year as a leader. He’s really improved day-to-day his effort and focus in practice. A sign of a good player is whether he makes his team better, and he does that as well as anybody in the league when he draws attention from opposing defenses,” said Juron.
Now that there are only two games left in the regular season, every game could possibly impact the seeding of the top four teams. As of Feb. 17, Endicott College and WNE are tied for first seed at 17-6, with Suffolk and Roger Williams University right behind them at 16-7.
For Suffolk to have a chance at the top seed in the CNE, giving them home court advantage throughout the playoffs, Endicott would have to lose their final two games while Suffolk would need to win out. Endicott is currently on a 10 game winning streak.
Suffolk is still very much in the race for a first round playoff bye, as they could tie WNE for the No. 2 seed if WNE finishes the season 1-1 while Suffolk wins out. Robertson’s 4-point play against WNE Feb. 11 could end up being the difference-maker should this scenario play out.
What’s for certain is that with a four way race for the top seed, Suffolk’s final two games against the University of Hartford and Nichols College will play a deciding factor in where the Rams will rank going into the playoffs.
No matter what the playoff seedings look like, Juron wants his team to be prepared for anyone in a league where nobody plays the same way.
“We just have to be ready to go out and play some different teams. One of the challenges of this league is that there’s a wide variance in style amongst the teams who’ll be in the conference tournament. There’ll be teams who’ll shoot the ball well from three, teams that are very post heavy and we’re just going to have to be ready to do whatever’s required,” said Juron.
Despite the playoff implications of every game, Juron noted how this team isn’t focusing on that. For them it’s business as usual as they head into their final two games.
“They’re excited about it but the challenge is to stay focused on the next opponent. If you start looking ahead, we’re going to be in trouble Wednesday or Saturday so we’re trying to take it one practice, one day at a time,” said Juron.
The Rams’ regular season finale against Nichols tips off at 3 p.m. Feb. 22 in the Ridgeway Gym.
