Ellis Cooper goes for 21 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 25, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team had its three-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday in a tough 68-67 overtime decision to American International at Butova Gymnasium in Springfield, Mass. The Ravens fell to 13-5 overall and 9-5 in the Northeast-10, while the Yellow Jackets improved to 5-13 and 3-11 in league play.

Sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.), who on Monday was named the NE-10 Player of the Week, dropped in a game-high 21 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor, grabbed seven rebounds, handed out five assists and swiped three steals. Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) chipped in 14 points, while senior backcourt-mate Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) added 10.

Sesoo Ikpah paced the AIC attack with 15 points, while Janek Schmidkunz and Spencer Braithwaite added 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Both teams shot well from the floor, including the Ravens, who went at a 51 percent clip (28-of-55), while AIC shot 40 percent (25-of-62). The Yellow Jackets shot even better from three-point range and went 46 percent (12-of-26). The Ravens weren't too far behind in that department as they connected on 45 percent (5-of-11) of their attempts.

Wednesday's game took several, wild momentum swings and was the main reason for the contest going an extra five minutes.

Franklin Pierce came out of the gates on fire and opened up a 19-5 lead just four minutes in, thanks in large part to Jean-Guillaume, who dropped in eight points, including a pair of triples.

AIC didn't fold and responded by outscoring the Ravens, 28-11, over the next 13 minutes to take a 33-30 lead. Schmidkunz ignited the rally with four three-pointers, including one at the 5:09 mark to knot the score at 30-all. David Campbell hit a layup and Brennan Cooper converted 1-of-2 foul shots to cap the rally. AIC took a slim 34-32 lead into the locker room at halftime. 

The Ravens shook off their sluggish play and came out firing in the opening minutes of the second half by scoring eight of the first 10 points to take a 40-36 lead. Cooper dropped in back-to-back jumpers to spark the early rally.

Sophomore forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) laid in a basket with 14:05 to go which put the Ravens up 42-40, but American International answered with 11-consecutive points to take a 51-42 advantage. Braithwaite kick-started the run with five-straight points, including a deep three-pointer, and capped it with another trey with 10:14 remaining.

Sophomore guard Andre Blackwood (Paterson, N.J.) stemmed the tide with a three-pointer and over the next several minutes the Ravens slowly chipped away at the deficit until Cooper was able to knot the game at 57-all with a driving layup with 3:11 left.

Cooper went right back to work on Franklin Pierce's next possession and converted a three-point play to lift the Ravens to a 60-57 lead. AIC countered with a Sesoo three to tie it at 60, but freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) hit a jumper with 90 seconds to go to put the Ravens back up by two. Campbell sent the game to overtime with a jumper with just :23 left. Jean-Guillaume had a chance to end the game but his jumper at the buzzer clanged off the back iron.

Van Oostrum scored all five points for Franklin Pierce in the extra session, including knocking down a jumper with 3:16 left to put the Ravens up 67-64. Schmidkunz answered with a jumper and Campbell tossed in the game-winning basket with only :22 remaining to lift the Yellow Jackets to victory.

Franklin Pierce outrebounded AIC, 36-33, but the Yellow Jackets were able to make up that deficit by doing a solid job of taking care of the basketball by committing just 12 turnovers.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Saint Rose 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 even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).