Second half surge lifts Knights past Ravens at Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic

BOXSCORE 

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. (November 28, 2008) - Lynn University wrapped a 22-6 run around halftime and held off Franklin Pierce down the stretch to post a 68-62 victory on day one of the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by Eckerd College, at the McArthur Center tonight.

Sophomore Michel Vidal (Miami, Fla.) led Lynn with a double-double effort of 15 points and 16 rebounds to go with three blocked shots and two assists. He made 6-of-8 shots from the field and converted 3-of-5 free-throw attempts on the night. Senior Randy Jones (Riviera Beach, Fla.) led Lynn with 18 points as he hit 6-of-10 shots from the field and converted all five free-throw attempts to go with three rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Chris Hall (Lauderhill, Fla.) chipped in with 16 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) had a near-perfect shooting night to lead Franklin Pierce with a game and career-high 24 points. He made his first eight shots from the field (including five from three-point range) and finished shooting 9-for-11 from the field overall, including 6-for-8 from three-point range, to go with two rebounds.

Senior Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon School) followed with 20 points and seven rebounds as he hit 8-of-17 shots from the field, while classmate Craig Shepherd (Grantham, N.H./Trinity) fell just a rebound shy of his second career double-double with season-highs of ten points and a team-best nine rebounds to go with three assists. Shepherd made 4-of-7 shots from the field, including 2-for-5 from behind the arc.

Lynn finished shooting 39.7-percent (23-for-58) from the field after hitting at 44.4% (12-27) percent in the second half. The Knights also enjoyed a 24-7 scoring advantage in points off turnovers as they committed just nine turnovers compared to 18 for Franklin Pierce. The Ravens finished shooting 42.1-percent (24-57) from the floor, but just 34.5% (10-29) in the second half at hitting at 50% (14-28) in the opening 20 minutes. They were also hampered by a 6-for-20 (30%) performance at the free-throw line, while Lynn hit 79.2% (19-24) of its attempts from the stripe.

Behind the hot shooting of Manchester in the first half (6-6 FGs, 3-3 3FGs), Franklin Pierce held a five-point lead (34-29) after a Manchester jumper with 56-seconds left before halftime. However, Lynn closed within two points (34-32) on three free-throws from Jones with three seconds to go, which sparked a 22-6 run that put the Knights up by 11 (51-40) after a Hall jumper with 9:38 left in the contest.

Franklin Pierce was able to close within two points (58-56) after a pair of Manchester three's sparked a 10-1 run. Leading by three (60-57) after Franklin Pierce junior Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) made just one of two at the line, Lynn expanded the lead back to eight (65-57) after a Vidal jumper with 30-seconds remaining. Manchester buried his sixth three of the night to pull the Ravens back within four (66-62), but there were just three seconds left and senior Luke Postorino (Clearwater, Fla.) canned two more free-throws with a second to play to close out the contest.

Franklin Pierce (2-2, 0-1 NE-10) is back in action tomorrow night when it faces host Eckerd (3-1, 0-0 SSC) at 7:30 p.m. Lynn (3-1, 0-0 SSC) faces the University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon tomorrow at 5:30 p.m.