Mike Giannattasio

Journal Staff

The Suffolk University men’s basketball got a clutch victory on Tuesday night, defeating the Mount Ida Mustangs by an 82-76 score. With the win, Suffolk improved to 9-15 overall this season and will have to win their season finale against Anna Maria College to get into the GNAC playoffs.

Although Suffolk has not had a winning season, they can still make the playoffs because most of their Great Northeast Athletic Conference rivals have losing records too. Suffolk is in seventh place in the GNAC, and of those six teams that post a better record, three of them have losing records.

Only first-place Albertus Magnus (23-1 overall), second-place Saint Joseph’s (17-7), and third-place Johnson & Wales (12-12) have records over .500.

Going into Tuesday night’s game, Suffolk had lost five consecutive games, but they still have been able to stay in the playoff hunt, as the GNAC competition has been less-than-mediocre.

Not letting the pressure get to them, Suffolk came out determined for a win against Mount Ida. Junior Chris Torres led all scorers with 24 points, while juniors Colin Halpin and Matt Pepdjonovic each recorded double-doubles.

Suffolk will conclude the regular season with a conference battle at Anna Maria College Saturday. Anna Maria is 9-8 in the GNAC and 11-13 overall, so the Rams will need to come with their A-game. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m.