Ravens pick up one of their biggest wins in program history since joining the Northeast-10 Conference

WALTHAM, Mass. (February 14, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team picked up one of its biggest wins Tuesday night since joining the Northeast-10 Conference (prior to the 2000-01 season) as the Ravens pulled away from traditional league power Bentley in the second half for an important 78-58 win at the Dana Center in Waltham, Mass. The Ravens won for the eighth time in their last 10 games to improve to 18-6 overall and 14-6 in league play. The Falcons dipped to 15-9 and 11-9 in the conference.

Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) dropped in a game-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, including a strong 3-of-6 effort from three-point range. He also pulled down five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists to aid in the victory.

Sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) also came up with a huge game as he pumped in 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting, ripped down nine boards and swiped a trio of steals. 

Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) and sophomore guard Curtis Christian (Harlem, N.Y.) each scored eight points, while senior center Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) recorded a strong all-around game of seven points and six rebounds. 

Franklin Pierce shot a strong 46 percent (31-of-68) from the floor, while limiting the Falcons to just 36 percent (22-of-61) shooting. The Ravens also came up huge on the defensive end by forcing Bentley into 27 turnovers.

Three Falcons scored in double-figures, including Jasper Grassa's team-high 14 points. Sam Leclerc went for 12 points and J.P. Koury added 10.

Franklin Pierce held a slim 30-28 lead at halftime, but the Ravens broke it open in the first five minutes of the second half. 

Leclerc buried a three for Bentley to begin the stanza and give the Falcons a one-point lead, but Franklin Pierce countered with 10-consecutive points to take a 40-31 advantage. Senior guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) knocked down a trey of his own to kick-start the rally for the Ravens and Cooper capped with it with five points, including a three-point play and a jumper from the baseline.

Bentley briefly stemmed the tide with a Kevin Kettl jumper, but the Ravens, again, countered with seven-consecutive points to go up 47-33. Van Oostrum, again, sparked it with a basket and Cooper capped it with five more points, including a jumper from the right corner of the baseline which forced Bentley coach Jay Lawson to call a timeout.

The Falcons came out of the timeout and quickly scored five-straight points, including a three from Grassa and a basket from Leclerc, to pull within single digits at 47-38. Bentley couldn't sustain the run as the Ravens countered with a 7-0 surge, including a deep three from the left corner by Vilmont and back-to-back baskets from sophomore forward Igor Lebov (Toronto, Ontario) and Abu, to go up 54-38 with 11:44 to go.

The teams traded baskets, but Franklin Pierce would not allow Bentley to get too close. Cooper dropped in another jumper with 9:18 left to stake the Ravens to a 19-point lead at 64-45. Bentley would not threaten the rest of the way as Franklin Pierce cruised in for the victory. The Ravens led by as many as 23 late as the win was their second in the Dana Center in the past three seasons. Franklin Pierce also pulled off a last-second, come-from-behind 72-70 win in Waltham near the end of the 2009-10 season.

The first half was tightly contested with neither side gaining too much of an upperhand. Both teams struggled shooting in the opening six minutes and Bentley held a slim 6-2 margin.
Franklin Pierce, however, warmed up from behind the arc and knocked three-consecutive three's over a two minute span to take a 13-9 lead with 11:29 left in the stanza. Vilmont sandwiched a pair of triples from the left and right baseline corners around a deep three from the left wing from Jean-Guillaume.

Franklin Pierce held the lead the rest of the half, and minutes after the barrage, Jean-Guillaume laid in a basket to extend the Ravens advantage out to 18-12. Jean-Guillaume had eight points in the opening 20 minutes and his trey from the top of the key with 6:43 left until the half gave Franklin Pierce its largest lead of the period at 26-18.

Bentley settled and scored 10 of the half's final 14 points to pull within 30-28 at halftime. Grassa had five points to aid the closing run for the Falcons as he led the team with nine points in the first half.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to UMass-Lowell 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).