Curtis Christian adds 12 points off of the bench for the Ravens

MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 11, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team had its four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday as John Nielsen drained a three-pointer from the left corner of the baseline with just :09 left to give Saint Anselm a 69-67 triumph at Stoutenburgh Gym in Manchester, N.H. The Ravens fell out of first place in the NE-10 with the setback and dipped to 17-6 overall and 13-6 in league play. The Hawks improved to 11-12 and 9-10 in the NE-10.

Nielsen's three capped a furious five-point rally by Saint Anselm in the final 24 seconds to pull off the come-from-behind victory. In fact, St. A's ending 5-0 run came just moments after the Ravens used a 7-0 surge to take a 67-64 advantage with only :35 remaining.

Saint Anselm's led for a large portion of the second half and Dino Mallios' layup with 2:21 remaining gave the Hawks a 64-60 lead. Franklin Pierce sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.), who netted 12 points in the game, drew a foul at the other end of the court and made both of his free throws to pull the Ravens to within two.

Franklin Pierce forced Saint Anselm into a turnover on the Hawks next possession and the Ravens responded at the other end of the court as Cooper fed a pass to senior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) in the post and he was able to turn and lay in a basket while being fouled. Abu netted the ensuing free throw to cap the three-point play and put the Ravens up 65-64 with 1:05 to go.

Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) was able to grab a loose ball off a scramble at the other end of the court and quickly called a timeout before Saint Anselm could pounce on him to force a jump ball. The Ravens came out of the timeout and senior guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) sent a long pass from the left baseline to beyond center court, where junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) tracked down the toss and drove in for an easy, uncontested layup to make it 67-64 with just :35 left.

Saint Anselm got an uncontested layup from Mallios with :24 left to pull the Hawks to within one and after a timeout pressed the Ravens, who eventually turned over the ball in the backcourt, giving St. A's a chance at a thrilling finish. The Hawks called a timeout to set up a play, which ultimately went to Nielsen, who dropped in the winning triple. Franklin Pierce raced back up the court, but Jean-Guillaume's three-point attempt at the buzzer was short.

Jean-Guillaume finished the game with a team-high 18 points for the Ravens, while also going over 1,000 points for his career in the process. He accomplished the career scoring feat in the final minute of the first half when he swished a fade-away jumper, which helped send the Ravens into halftime with a 38-32 lead.

Jean-Guillaume went for nine points in the opening 20 minutes and sophomore guard Curtis Christian (Harlem, N.Y.) came off the bench to pump in 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers to help stake the Ravens to the six-point advantage at intermission.

The Ravens held a 40-34 lead two minutes into the second half, but the Hawks responded with a 12-2 run over a five-and-a-half minute span to take a 46-42 lead. Roy Mabrey, who pumped in a team-high 17 points for Saint Anselm, sparked the run with a layup and Mallios aided it with a deep trey. Mallios finished the game with 13 points.

Dominic Borelli dropped in a basket minutes later to extend Saint Anselm's lead to 52-45, but the Ravens countered by scoring eight of the next 10 points to pull within one at 54-53 with 6:48 left. Jean-Guillaume drained a three during the run, while Cooper and Christian followed with back-to-back baskets.

The teams continued to trade baskets over the next several minutes before the two exchanged their final rallies which led to the exciting finish.

Christian finished the game with 12 points for Franklin Pierce, while Allen Harris and Borelli netted 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Saint Anselm. Each team pulled down 35 rebounds. Franklin Pierce shot 46 percent (26-of-57) from the field, while the Hawks went for a 42 percent clip (27-of-64).

The Ravens return to action Tuesday night when they travel to Waltham, Mass. to face Bentley at 7:30 p.m. in the Dana Center.

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).