Nigel Van Oostrum goes 6-of-6 from three-point range to lead
Ravens offensively
RINDGE, N.H. (November 22, 2011) -- The Franklin
Pierce University men's basketball team used a strong offensive
surge to open the second half as it keyed the Ravens to an
important 57-47 win over Stonehill on Tuesday night at The
Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in
the Northeast-10, while the Skyhawks dipped to 2-1 and 1-1 in
league play.
The win also snapped Franklin
Pierce's five-game losing streak to Stonehill, as the Ravens had
battled the Skyhawks close in the previous meetings, but could not
come up with a play late in the game to grab a win.
Tuesday night, though, was a
different story for the Ravens as they came out of the locker room
and were on fire to begin the second half.
Franklin Pierce scored the first 13
points of the frame to turn a 19-19 tie into a 32-19 advantage with
16:43 left in the game. Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume
(Stamford, Conn.) kick-started the run with a layup and
senior backcourt-mate Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield,
England) followed with back-to-back treys. Sophomore
forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) laid in
a basket on the next possession and Jean-Guillaume capped the surge
with a deep three-pointer from the right wing.
Van Oostrum and Jean-Guillaume were
the offensive catalysts for Franklin Pierce on the evening as they
dropped in 20 and 17 points, respectively. Van Oostrum was 6-for-6
from three-point range and was 7-of-9 overall from the floor.
Jean-Guillaume had a terrific all-around game with six rebounds,
five assists, three steals and three blocks. Cooper also turned in
a well-rounded game with nine points, seven boards, five helpers
and three thefts. Not to be left out was senior forward
Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.), who ripped down a
game-high 11 rebounds.
Following the early second half
surge, Franklin Pierce continued to add to its lead and pushed it
out to 15 at 39-24 with 13:17 remaining following an Igor
Lebov (Toronto, Ont.) jumper.
Stonehill, though, didn't fold and
went on a 10-1 run over the next six minutes to pull within six at
40-34. Sam Markle knocked down a triple and Adam Fazzini laid in a
basket to cap the surge which all of a sudden had the Skyhawks
believing they could pull off the comeback.
The Ravens now the chance to
counter and they did just that by scoring the next five points to
go back up by double-digits at 45-34 with 6:05 left. Van Oostrum
sparked the mini-rally with a three-pointer and Cooper capped it
with a layup.
The teams traded baskets over the
remaining minutes of the game, and Stonehill did pull to within
five at 51-46, but Franklin Pierce made its free throws down the
stretch to seal the win and run their overall winning streak to
three games.
Patrick Lee and Andre Tongo paced
Stonehill offensively with 11 points each. Stonehill struggled
shooting the ball all night as the Skyhawks managed just a 29
percent clip (16-of-54) from the field.
Franklin Pierce struggled on the
offensive end throughout the first half and shot just 24 percent
(7-of-29) from the floor. But the Ravens rebounded with a much
stronger 62 percent effort (13-of-21) in the second 20 minutes. For
the game, Franklin Pierce shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the
floor.
The first half was tightly
contested, but it appeared that Stonehill was pulling away late in
the frame when Tongo drained a three to give the Skyhawks a 17-11
edge. Franklin Pierce rallied and went on an 8-2 run to close out
the half, aided by another deep three from Van Oostrum, to knot the
score at 19-19 going into halftime.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Sunday when the Ravens travel to Colchester, Vt., to face Saint
Michael's at 3:30 p.m.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce men's basketball, please visit the team's page at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further,
please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube
(www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).
