Poor shooting hampers
Ravens as they drop fourth-straight NE-10 game
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.
(January 3, 2005) - Pace University withstood a late
Franklin Pierce rally and hung on for a 73-70 victory in
Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Ann &
Alfred Goldstein Heath, Fitness and Recreation Center tonight.
Despite trailing by as much as 13
points late in the second half, Franklin Pierce fought back and had
a shot at the buzzer to force overtime. The Ravens were done in by
a sub-par shooting effort, hitting 40.6-percent (28-69) from the
field, including six-of-22 (27.3%) from three-point range, and
converting just 8-of-17 (47.1%) at the free-throw line.
Both of Pace's leading scorers came
off the bench with freshman Maurice Douglas (Waldorf,
Md./South Maryland Christian) leading the way with 12
points on 6-9 shooting from the floor in 17 minutes of action.
Classmate Desmond Quincy-Jones (Rye,
N.Y./Rye) registered a double-double with ten points
and ten rebounds. Junior Neal Wellington (Wheaton,
Md./Good Counsel) led the starting corps with nine
points, five rebounds and four steals.
Freshman Mitchell
Johnson (Nassau, Bahamas) led Franklin Pierce with
the first double-double of his career, netting a game and
season-high 21 points to go with a season-best 11 rebounds (eight
offensive). Junior Pierre Sully (Jamaica Plain,
Mass./North Cambridge) also recorded the first
double-double of his career, adding 12 points and a career-best 13
rebounds. Classmate Justin Powell (Brookline,
Mass./Brookline) rounded out the Ravens double-digit
scorers with 14 points, on 6-12 shooting from the field, and six
boards.
Pace forged a six-point (37-31)
halftime lead as it hit 46.7% (14-30) from the field, compared to
36.4% (12-33) for the Ravens, including 1-7 (14.3%) from
long-distance, in the stanza.
The Setters scored the first basket
of the second half with a Chaka Lightburn (Belize City,
Belize) lay-up, but Franklin Pierce answered with an
11-1 run to take a two-point lead (42-40) after a Johnson jumper
with 16:32 to play.
With the score tied at 53-53 with
9:55 left in regulation, Pace seemed to take control of the game
with a 16-3 run to open a 13-point lead (69-56) with 5:42 to play.
Freshman Ryan Williams (Centreville, Va./Paul
VI) capped the run with back-to-back three-pointers.
Franklin Pierce refused to pack it
in and three-pointers from Johnson and sophomore Darryl
Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) pulled the
Ravens within four points (71-67) with 1:43 to play. While the
Ravens missed shots on their next three possessions, the Setters
failed to seal the victory by missing on three possessions as well.
Williams canned two free-throws to
give Pace a six-point lead (73-67) with 18-seconds to play, but
after a Johnson three got the Ravens back within a basket with
seven seconds on the clock, he missed the front end of a
one-and-one to give Franklin Pierce one last shot with four seconds
to play. However, Johnson's off-balanced three as time expired to
force overtime was off the mark.
Franklin Pierce (3-7, 1-4 NE-10)
returns home on Thursday to host Le Moyne College at 7:30 p.m. Pace
(8-4, 5-2 NE-10) hosts the College of Saint Rose on Thursday at
7:30 p.m.
BOX
SCORE
