Ravens can't hold onto early lead

BOXSCORE

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (January 25, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team dropped a 69-53 decision to Adelphi on Tuesday night in Garden City, N.Y. The Ravens fell to 5-14 overall and 3-11 in the Northeast-10, while the Panthers improved to 11-7 and 7-7 in league play.

A pair of Ravens scored in double-figures, including senior guard Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass.), who tossed in a team-best 13 points. Sophomore guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) was the team's other double-digit scorer and he narrowly missed a double-double by logging 10 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Matt Barboza (East Providence, R.I.) had a solid all-round game for Franklin Pierce as he scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds.

Three Panthers logged double-digits in scoring, including Richard Byrd, who had a game-high 21 points. David Akinyooye tallied a double-double with 14 points and 20 rebounds, and Chris Ranglin added 19 points.

Franklin Pierce did open the game by taking a 12-9 lead seven minutes into the contest, highlighted by baskets from Dozier and Jean-Guillaume. However, Adelphi countered with a 19-0 run, sparked by a three-pointer from Richard Harkins, to grab a 28-12 advantage just six minutes later.

That run would prove to be the difference-maker in the contest, and the Panthers never trailed the rest of the way and never let their lead slip below double-digits. Adelphi used a 12-0 run late in the stanza to build a 41-20 lead at halftime, and then led by as many as 25 points on two occasions during the second half in pulling away for the victory.

Franklin Pierce shot 35 percent (19-of-54) from the floor, while Adelphi hit on 44 percent (25-of-57) of its shots.

Ravens sophomore guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) handed out a team-high three assists, while junior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) totaled three rebounds and two assists.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Le Moyne at 3:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's basketball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).