Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont goes for career-high 20
points
MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 30, 2011) -- The
Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team showed tremendous
resiliency Wednesday in rallying from a double-digit deficit to
claim a hard-fought 72-67 win at Southern New Hampshire in
Manchester. The Ravens won their fifth straight overall and their
third-straight Northeast-10 Conference game to improve to 7-1 and
3-1 in league play. SNHU dipped to 4-2 and 2-2 in league play.
Freshman forward Ryen
Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) paced Franklin Pierce with a
game and career-high 20 points, while ripping down five rebounds
and swatting away three shots. Junior guard Eric
Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) had another all-around
strong game with 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two
assists and a block, while senior forward Adedamola Abu
(Mattapan, Mass.) logged his second-straight double-figure
scoring game with 10 points while also collecting six rebounds.
Greg DeSantis and Aleksandar
Dobrovic were the Penmen's two double-figure scorers with 17 and 15
points, respectively.
SNHU opened the game by scoring 10
of the first 14 points, aided by a three-pointer from DeSantis, and
eventually built a 28-15 lead with 9:49 remaining in the first
half.
Franklin Pierce did not fold and
showed the character it has displayed in the early-going of this
season and reeled off 14-consecutive points to take a 29-28 lead
with 5:43 remaining until halftime. Vilmont sparked the surge with
a layup and sophomore Ellis Cooper (Northampton,
Mass.) threw down a slam dunk to aid in the momentum.
Vilmont scored the final 10 points, including knocking down a pair
of triples.
SNHU rallied to score the next
seven points to grab a 35-29 lead, but the teams would settle into
trading baskets over the final minutes of the half before
Jean-Guillaume laid in a basket and Vilmont hit a last second free
throw to pull the Ravens to within two at 38-36 heading into the
locker room at halftime.
The opening minutes of the second
half featured the same type of play with the score hovering between
the 2-to-4 point mark for either side. DeSantis converted a layup
with 6:46 remaining to knot the score at 56.
However, the Ravens countered by
going on a quick 6-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back triples from
Jean-Guillaume and Vilmont, to grab a 62-56 advantage with 5:52 to
go.
Franklin Pierce slowly continued to add to its lead and held a
68-59 edge with 2:19 left following a three-pointer and free throw
from Jean-Guillaume. SNHU was forced to rush shots and play the
foul game in the closing minutes to try and keep its hopes alive
for the victory.
The Penmen were able to cut it to
three in the final seconds, but the Ravens made their free throws
late to seal the win.
The Ravens continued to take great
care of the basketball, turning it over only 11 times, while
forcing 14 from SNHU, including swiping seven steals. Franklin
Pierce shot 43 percent from behind the arc, while holding the
Penmen to just 32 percent shooting from three-point range.
Sophomore forward Adrianos
Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) came off the
bench to chip in with eight points, and classmate Curtis
Christian (Harlem, N.Y.) netted seven points and collected
four rebounds.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Sunday night when the Ravens play host to Saint Anselm at 7:30 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 even further,
please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube
(www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter
(www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook
(www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).
