Ryen Vilmont nets 14 points for the Ravens

RINDGE, N.H. (February 26, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team survived a late rally by Assumption on Sunday night and pulled out a narrow 55-50 win in the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament quarterfinals at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The top-seeded and regular season champion Ravens improved to 21-6, while also advancing to the semifinals on Wednesday night where they will play host to fourth-seeded UMass-Lowell at 7 p.m. Ninth-seeded Assumption closed out its season with a 14-14 record.

Four of Franklin Pierce's five starters scored in double-figures, including 14 points apiece from freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore frontcourt-mate Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.). Those two performances came just days after each player was recognized by the NE-10, including Cooper being named to the all-conference first-team and Vilmont being placed on the all-rookie team.

Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who two days ago was honored as the NE-10 Player of the Year, had a solid all-around game with 11 points, seven rebounds, one assist and a steal. Senior center Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds, a pair of blocks and two steals.

Despite the four double-figure scorers, Franklin Pierce struggled mightily shooting the basketball in the second half. The Ravens did come out and score 11 quick points, including an Abu layup with 16:27 remaining to stake his team to a comfortable 49-36 lead.

However, Franklin Pierce would go scoreless for nearly eight minutes before Cooper put in a pair of free throws with 8:37 remaining. The Ravens showed tremendous character, though, by buckling down on the defensive end and holding the Greyhounds to just eight points during that dry spell. Franklin Pierce even forced five turnovers and blocked another shot.

Even though Assumption had its own troubles shooting the basketball, the Greyhounds were at least able to take some advantage of Franklin Pierce's shooting woes and pull to within five at 49-44 with 9:15 left when Mike Auriemma rained in a three-pointer.

Cooper's two foul shots extended Franklin Pierce's lead to seven, but Greyhound forward Tim Beinert laid in an easy two at the other end to cut the Ravens lead to five at 51-46 with 7:32 to go.

Abu answered with a layup of his own at the other end, but Beinert, again, scored on Assumption's next possession as he muscled his way towards the basket, drawing a foul and hitting the ensuing two free throws.

Both teams went scoreless for a four-minute stretch before Beinert converted another layup with 2:47 left to cut Franklin Pierce's lead to 53-50. Assumption, though, would not score the rest of the way as Franklin Pierce picked up the defensive intensity. Assumption did have the ball for the final possession and Ronson Quick tried to toss up a three-pointer with :09 left, but the shot was too contested by numerous Raven defenders, thus the ball went clanging off the iron into the hands of Jean-Guillaume. The guard instantly drew a foul and calmly walked to the other end of the court where he sank two free throws to seal the win.

Franklin Pierce scored just 17 points in the half and shot just 25 percent (5-of-20) from the floor. The Ravens defensive intensity was their answer to victory on this afternoon by limiting Assumption to just 33 percent shooting for the game (19-of-57), including 29 percent in the second half. Franklin Pierce swiped nine steals and blocked seven shots in the game, including two apiece from Abu, senior guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) and sophomore forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens). 

Kevin Donahue paced Assumption with 12 points, while Quick chipped in with 10.

Franklin Pierce shot much better in the first half, including going 50 percent from the field. The Ravens used a 14-0 surge midway through the frame to turn a 16-12 deficit into a 26-16 lead with 8:04 left until halftime. Abu kick-started the rally with a layup and Jean-Guillaume followed with five-straight points, including a deep three-pointer from the top of the key. Vilmont then added five-consecutive points, including a triple of his own, and Jean-Guillaume capped it with a 15-footer from just inside the arc.

Franklin Pierce pushed its lead out to 12 moments later with a breakaway dunk from Jean-Guillaume and the Ravens eventually took a 38-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Ravens, who were appearing in the postseason for the first time in three years on Sunday, advanced to the semis on Wednesday where they will be facing UMass-Lowell for the second time in a little less than two weeks. Franklin Pierce used a last-second three-pointer from Cooper to pull out a 74-71 win over the River Hawks back on Feb. 18 in Rindge. Franklin Pierce swept the two-game regular season series from Lowell, also picking up a come-from-behind 86-80 in Massachusetts back on Dec. 10.

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).