SYRACUSE, N.Y. (January 7, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce
University men's basketball team could not shake off a slow start
versus Le Moyne on Saturday and ultimately dropped an 80-66
decision to the Dolphins at Ted Grant Court in Syracuse, N.Y. The
Ravens had their two-game winning streak snapped in falling to 10-3
overall and 6-3 in the Northeast-10, while Le Moyne improved to 7-6
and 3-6 in league play.
Three Ravens scored in
double-figures, led by sophomore forward Ellis Cooper's
(Northampton, Mass.) 20 points. He also grabbed seven
rebounds, handed out three assists and swiped a pair of steals.
Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.)
and senior backcourt-mate Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield,
England) followed with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
Le Moyne also had a trio of players
log double-digits in scoring, including Brian Zapisek's 20 points.
Jim Janson shot 9-of-11 from the field and pumped in 19 points,
while Nate Champion added 17 points.
Franklin Pierce struggled shooting
the basketball and only converted on 37 percent (24-of-65) of its
shots. Le Moyne, though, had a strong game offensively and
connected on 50 percent (27-of-54) of its attempts. The Dolphins
also shot a solid 44 percent (10-of-23) from behind the three-point
arc.
Le Moyne came out of the gates on
fire in the first half and scored the first seven points while
taking a 12-2 advantage with 13:00 left in the frame. Zapisek
drained a pair of triples in the early run, while Janson netted
four points on a dunk and a jumper.
The Ravens slowly chipped away at
the deficit and a three-pointer from Jean-Guillaume at the 7:43
mark pulled them to within four at 14-10. However, the Dolphins
reeled off 12-consecutive points, including five from Champion, to
grab a 26-10 lead with 4:40 left until halftime.
Le Moyne netted the final five
points of the half, including a trey from Chris Johnson, to take a
38-17 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
The second half didn't get any
better for the Ravens as Le Moyne came out firing once again and
built a 22-point advantage at 41-19 with 17:40 left following a
three-pointer from Gamal Mohamed.
Franklin Pierce tried to claw its
way back into the contest, but the margin was too much to overcome.
The Ravens did get to within 10 late, but could not get the deficit
into single digits as the Dolphins sealed the victory.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Wednesday when the Ravens travel to face New Haven 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).
