Rivier Tops Suffolk, 72-58

Nashua, NH – Rivier rebounded from a 38 point loss over the weekend to move to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in GNAC play by defeating the Rams of Suffolk University 72-58 today in men's basketball action. The Raiders played aggressive basketball all day, driving the lane and getting to the foul line 26 times, converting on 19 free throw shots to help pull away from the Rams. The Rams on the other hand only made it to the free throw line 5 times all game, making just 1 free throw shot.

The first half went back and forth for most of the early going with 4 tie scores and 6 lead changes took place during the first 12 minutes of play. Rivier finally took the lead for good with 7:56 left in the half when a Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) lay-up gave the Raiders a 19-18 lead. The Raiders then went on a 16-6 run to take a commanding 35-24 lead, capped off by two Don Poitras (Bow, NH) free throws with 1:40 remaining in the half. During that time the Raiders slashed through the defense, creating a number of easy baskets. Will Snider (Brooklyn, NY) was able to drive the right side of the lane and split 3 defenders to get a lay-up to fall and then tried again on the very next play only to have Suffolk's Matt Pepdjonovic (Quincy, MA) cut across the lane and swat it out of bounds to deny the shot. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the half and Rivier was able to take a 39-28 lead into the locker room.

The Rams came out and made a strong push in the second half, but were only able to get within 4 points once after Pepdjonovic made a lay-up to cut the Rivier lead to 49-45. The Raiders settled back in and junior Joe Granato hit a clutch 3-pointer to extend the lead back to 7. The Rams were able to cut the lead to 5 points five separate times, but Rivier responded each time with either free throws or made baskets to keep the lead. In the end, Rivier went on a 10-0 run over the final 3:25, capped off by the Poitras brothers combining for the final basket (Tom made the bucket with brother Don getting the assist), to give the Raiders the 14 point victory.

Freshman Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) led the all Raiders with a career high 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Poitras battled all day in the post and his aggressiveness payed off as he got to the free throw line 8 times. Brother Don finished with a double-double notching 13 points,15 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 blocks while Jake Nelson had 14 points and Nick Bean (E. Longmeadow, MA) finished with 12.

Pepdjonovic led all scorers with 24 points for the Rams and he grabbed a team high 10 rebounds and had 2 blocked shots. Colin Halpin (Melrose, MA) and Mike Gibbons (Ringwood, NJ) also finished in double digits with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Raiders are off until Saturday, January 22nd when they host the Lasers of Lasell College at 1:00 PM.