BOSTON, Mass – In a battle between Boston Commons schools, the Suffolk men's basketball team came up on the wrong side of things as the Rams slipped to Emerson, 78-73, inside Regan Gymnasium Tuesday night.

The Lions rise to 2-1 on the season while the Suffolk Rams fall to 0-4.

Suffolk found itself in an 11-4 hole in the opening minutes of action. After Jeff Juron used a timeout to talk things over, the Rams powered back within three, 15-12, thanks to an 8-4 run, which featured four points from Steven DiPrizio and Michael Hagopian.

The Lions rebuilt a hefty advantage, 23-14, but the Rams responded once again thanks to Suffolk's rookies. A triple from Jonathan Eng sparked a 7-2 Rams' stretch that pulled the blue and gold within three, 25-22, with just under eight minutes to go before the break.

Suffolk hung with Emerson and slowly chipped away at the three-point deficit before leveling the playing field with 2:44 on the clock when Jim Djema swished a trey from the top of the key. On The Rams' next possession, DiPrizio was fouled from behind the arc and sank all three freebies to reverse the roles and put Suffolk ahead by the three-point margin 39-36.

The Lions put in a three of their own to answer and Geoffrey Gray sank a pair from the charity stripe to send Suffolk to the locker rooms down, 41-39.

Out of intermission, Suffolk put together a 10-2 stretch to take its largest lead of the evening, 50-45, at 15:09 in the second half. The game toggled from there, equalizing at 54-all, before the Lions roared out to a six-point cushion with 5:10 to go.

The Rams continued to chip away at the margin and came within three with just under one minute to play as George Grillakis made an up-and-under layup, but Suffolk would not get any closers as Emerson went on to spoil the blue and gold's home opener, 78-73.

The Lions return to action this Saturday, Nov 26th, when they travel to Tufts University for a 2:00pm tip off against the Jumbos.