Balanced offensive effort leads Ravens to victory over host Tritons

Boxscore 

SAINT PETERSBURG, Fla. (November 29, 2008) - The Franklin Pierce men's basketball team bounced back with a 73-63 victory over host Eckerd College on day two of the Eckerd Thanksgiving Classic at the McArthur Center tonight.

Junior Fred Lyles (Landover, Md./Largo) led five Franklin Pierce players in double-figures with a season-high matching 12 points as he made all four shots from the field, including three from three-point range, and converted 3-of-4 at the free-throw line to go with five rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. Senior Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon School) added 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 1-for-2 from beyond the arc, in 19 minutes before fouling out.

Senior Craig Shepherd (Grantham, N.H./Trinity), junior Jack Barrett (Reading, Mass./Andover) and sophomore Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass./The Winchendon School) all chipped in ten points for the Ravens. Shepherd added five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Dozier also finished with five rebounds as he converted 8-of-10 free-throws off the bench.

Junior Zaronn Cann (Brandon, Fla.) led all scorers with 18 points for Eckerd, shooting 5-for-8 from the field, including 1-for-1 from three-point range, and converting 7-of-9 at the free-throw line while adding eight rebounds for Eckerd. Sophomore Chris Gray (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood) posted 13 points for the Tritons.

Franklin Pierce hit 42-percent (21-for-50) of its shots from the field on the night, including 45.5% (10-for-22) in the second half, and made 50% (8-for-16) of its shots from three-point range. The Ravens held Eckerd to 34.9% (22-for-63) shooting from the floor, including just 4-for-13 (30.8%) from beyond the arc.

Franklin Pierce led by as much as eight in the first half, but found itself down a point (26-25) after a three-pointer from Eckerd sophomore Erick Green (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) with 5:22 left in the opening stanza. The Ravens closed the half with an 8-2 burst over the final 3:30 to take a six-point lead (37-31) into halftime, capped by a Lyles three.

Neither team scored for the first two minutes of the second half before senior Trevor Lee (Clearwater, Fla./Pasco-Hernando) drew Eckerd within four with a layup. Franklin Pierce answered with an 11-2 run to open a 13-point advantage (48-35) after a Dozier jumper with 12:59 remaining. Shepherd led the run with a conventional three-point play and a three-ball, while Lyles added a three as well. 

Eckerd pulled within nine (50-41) after a layup from junior Lewis Lampley (St. Petersburg, Fla./James Madison) with 10:48 to go, but Franklin Pierce pushed the lead to a game-high 16 (61-45) with an 11-4 run over the next six minutes. Barrett had five points during the game-deciding stretch, including a three-pointer, while Varanauskas added a conventional three-point play.

Eckerd was able to close within single digits in the final minute and a half, but could draw no closer than eight (71-63) with 17-seconds left, as Franklin Pierce did enough at the foul line (8-for-11) down the stretch to seal the win.

Franklin Pierce (3-2, 0-1 NE-10) returns north for Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday when it hosts Le Moyne College at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on WEEI 93.5 FM Keene. Eckerd (4-2, 0-0 SSC) opens its Conference schedule at Nova Southeastern University next Saturday at 4 p.m.