Hunt nets career-high 35 thanks to
school-record 17-of-17 effort at the line
RINDGE, N.H. (February 15,
2003) - Junior swingman Jimmie Hunt (Utica,
N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) missed just one shot all
night in scoring a career-high 35 points to lead Franklin Pierce to
a 91-85 victory over Bryant College in a Northeast-10 Conference
men's basketball shootout at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this
afternoon.
Hunt set a school-record by
draining a perfect 17-of-17 free-throw attempts and hit 9-10 from
the field for his career-best 35 point (20 second half) total. He
also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, dished three assists and
snared two steals. Hunt's perfect game at the line surpasses
teammate V.J. Kwity's (Torrance,
Calif./West) perfect 10-10 (at UMass Lowell, 12/5/01)
and 9-9 (vs. UC Santa Cruz, 12/27/00) efforts as well as an 8-8
night by former Ravens sharpshooter Bob Szklarz during the 1967-68
season.
Freshman Justin Powell
(Brookline, Mass./Brookline) netted a season-high 23
points, aided by a 9-15 effort from the field, to go with four
rebounds and two blocks. SeniorTom Waterman (Bangor,
Maine/Bangor) rounded out the double-digit scorers
with 11 points to go with a season-high eight assists and two
steals. Senior Zvonko Ilic (Nis,
Yugoslavia) chipped in seven rebounds in 19 minutes
off the bench.
Senior Jon Wallace led five Bryant
players in double-figures with 16 points, aided by a 4-7 effort
from three-point range, and three steals. Freshman John Williams
totaled 13 points and three assists, while classmate Dan Hammond
added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. He was a perfect
5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from long-distance. Junior Jason
Noel chipped in 11 points, a team-high six rebounds (three
offensive) and three assists. Sophomore Cullen McCarthy hit 3-6
three's for ten points (all first half) off the bench.
Both teams shot over 55-percent
from the field or better, with Franklin Pierce canning 57.4%
(31-54) of its shots, including 65% (13-20) in the second half.
Bryant shot 54.7% (29-53) from the floor, cooling off some after
shooting 61.5% (16-26) over the opening 20-minutes. The Bulldogs
matched a school record with 15 three-point baskets, hitting 53.6%
(15-28) of their attempts for the game. They canned 10-16 (62.5%)
in the opening half.
Hunt led a Ravens team that scored
28 points at the line (28-37) compared to 12 for Bryant (12-20).
Franklin Pierce also took good care of the ball, committing just
ten turnovers, while forcing Bryant into 16, and also won the
battle of the boards, 34-24.
Bryant came out blazing in the
opening half, building a nine-point lead (45-36) with 3:10 left
before the break. Franklin Pierce, however, rolled into the locker
room as it scored the final ten points of the stanza to take a
46-45 lead at the intermission. Hunt capped the rally with a lay-up
on an offensive rebound with a second to play and scored six of the
ten points.
The Ravens continued to roll with
an 8-2 run to open the second half with Hunt scoring six more
points to take a seven-point lead (54-47) just 3:16 in.
Bryant used a 10-4 run, sparked by
a pair of three's from Wallace and back-to-back hoops from Noel, to
trim its deficit to one point (63-62) with 11:45 to play.
Leading by two (71-69) with 8:17
left in regulation, Franklin Pierce reeled off an 11-3 run to open
a ten-point (82-72) advantage with 4:22 to play. Hunt netted all 11
points during a stretch in which he scored 14-straight Franklin
Pierce points.
Bryant wouldn't go away, rallying
to within three on two occasions with under two and a half to play,
but could get no closer as Franklin Pierce held on getting two
clutch free-throws from Powell with 24-seconds to play.
Franklin Pierce (12-13, 10-10
NE-10) returns to the hardwood on Wednesday for a key Conference
battle at Assumption College at 7:30 p.m. Bryant (15-12, 10-9
NE-10) hosts Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
BOX
SCORE
