Eric Jean-Guillaume goes for 18 points, including 3-of-4 effort from behind the arc

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (January 21, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team rallied in the second half for an exciting 74-64 win over Pace at the Goldstein Fit Center on Saturday in Pleasantville, N.Y. The Ravens won their third-straight game to improve to 13-4 overall and 9-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Setters fell to 8-8 and 6-6 in league play.

Sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) led the way for the Ravens with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, while also pulling down seven rebounds, swiping four steals and handing out a pair of assists.

Two other Ravens scored in double-figures, including junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who pumped in 18 points, including knocking down 3-of-4 attempts from three-point range. Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) added 13 points and a pair of blocks for Franklin Pierce.

Franklin Pierce was outrebounded by a count of 39-29, but the Ravens shot a strong 48 percent from the field (22-of-46), while limiting Pace to just 35 percent shooting (20-of-57). The Ravens also forced the Setters into 17 turnovers.

Denzel Primus-Devonish pumped in a game-high 27 points for Pace, while Keon Williams followed with 18 points.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair with the opening minutes seeing four ties and four lead changes.

Pace, which led by as many as eight in the early going of the second half saw its lead evaporate with a 9-0 run by Franklin Pierce, which was capped by a Jean-Guillaume three-point play at the 13:33 mark to put the Ravens up 41-40. Senior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) aided the surge with four points on a layup and two free throws.

The Setters regained the lead with five-straight points, including a three-point play from Primus-Devonish, to go up 45-41. Franklin Pierce, though, answered with six-consecutive points, including getting baskets from Cooper, Jean-Guillaume and sophomore guard Curtis Christian (Harlem, N.Y.), to gain a slim 47-45 edge.

The teams traded runs over the next several minutes, including an 8-0 rally by Pace to gain a 55-52 lead with 6:34 to go.

The Ravens, again, didn't fold and put together a run, which would prove to be the difference-maker in the game. Franklin Pierce scored 11-straight points, kick-started by a three-point play from Cooper and capped with another three-point effort from the sophomore forward, to take a 63-55 lead with 2:57 remaining. Vilmont added five points during the winning run with a deep triple and a pair of free throws.

Franklin Pierce led by as many as 12 points late in sealing the victory, which guaranteed them no worse than a .500 record for the regular season.

The start of the game was delayed close to two hours due to inclement weather, which hindered the mid-Atlantic region throughout the morning and afternoon on Saturday.

The first half was much the same as the second with both sides exchanging leads. Pace, though, scored nine of the frame's final 14 points to take a 35-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Wednesday when the Ravens travel to Springfield, Mass. to face American International at 7:30 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).