Ravens improve to 3-0 after
trailing by as much as 17 late in the first half
RINDGE, N.H. (November 22,
2005) - Franklin Pierce came back to post a 67-57 victory
over Southern Connecticut State University after trailing by as
much as 17, including 13 points at the break, in Northeast-10
Conference men's basketball action at the Fieldhouse tonight.
Senior forward Justin
Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) led a balanced
Franklin Pierce attack with 14 points, on 7-of-11 shooting from the
field, to go with six rebounds and two steals. Classmate
Tom Sadler (London, England/Farmington (N.H.)
HS) was a perfect 6-6 from the field and converted
his lone free-throw attempt for 13 points and grabbed five rebounds
(all on the offensive end) and dished three assists.
Junior Darryl
Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) added 11 points,
a team-high eight rebounds and three steals, while freshman
Timothy Munch (Blauvelt, N.Y./Storm King
Prep) chipped in 11 points off the
bench.
Franklin Pierce hit 55.6-percent
(15-27) of its shots from the field in the second half, while
Southern was just 6-for-24 (25%) after shooting 48.5% (16-33) in
the opening stanza, including 5-for-12 (41.7%) from three-point
range.
Senior Mike Yacenda
(Stamford, Conn./St. Thomas More) led Southern with
12 points and seven rebounds, while junior Corey Hudson
(Baltimore, Md./Cecil CC) came off the bench to add
11 points and six boards (five offensive). Junior
Ktrice McNeill (Bronx, N.Y./FIT) finished
with a game-high nine rebounds.
Southern held a 17-point lead
(33-16) after a Danny Miller (Freeport,
N.Y./FIT) lay-up with 4:26 to play in the first half,
capping an 18-6 run. Miller canned a pair of free throws with 2:23
to play in the stanza for a 16-point Owls edge (36-20).
Franklin Pierce trailed by 13
(40-27) at the break and was down 11 (44-33) after a Hudson jumper
2:56 into the second half. The Ravens trimmed the lead to three
points (46-43) as Munch buried their first three-pointer of the
night to cap a 10-3 run with 12:14 to play.
Southern bumped its lead back to
seven (50-43) after a Jamal Cooke (Portland, Ore./Mt
Hood CC) jumper midway through the half, but Franklin
Pierce reeled off a 10-0 spurt to take its first lead since 1:04
into the contest (53-50) after a Sean Mayo (Saco,
Maine/Thornton Academy) lay-up with 6:34 to play.
The Owls drew within two points
(55-53) after a Yacenda lay-up with 5:22 on the clock, but the
Ravens used an 8-2 run to take an eight point lead (63-55) after a
pair of Munch free-throws to ice the victory.
Franklin Pierce (3-0, 1-0 NE-10),
off to a 3-0 start for the first time in 11 years, is off until
next Wednesday, November 30, when it hosts in-state rivals Southern
New Hampshire University at 7:30 p.m. Southern Connecticut (0-1,
0-1 NE-10) hosts American International College on Sunday at 3:30
p.m.
BOXSCORE
