RINDGE, N.H. (February 16, 2013) – The Franklin
Pierce University men's basketball team won its sixth game in
a row on Saturday afternoon and it was a big one as the Ravens
knocked off No. 10 nationally ranked Saint Anselm, 75-66, in The
Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens, who also moved into a tie with
Saint Anselm for first-place in the Northeast-10 Conference
standings, improved to 18-5 and 15-4 in league play. The Hawks, who
had their seven game winning streak snapped, dipped to 19-4 and
15-4 in the conference.
Three games remain in the regular
season for both Franklin Pierce and Saint Anselm as it will now
become a playoff for the league's regular season title and
No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming conference tournament (March 1-9
at the highest remaining seed).
Saturday's win was further
evidence of Franklin Pierce being able to win the big games as the
Ravens made it five wins in five tries this season against teams
which were either ranked or receiving votes for the national top-25
poll at the time of tipoff.
Senior guard Eric
Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) had an amazing game with
26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block.
He scored 15 of his game-high point total in the second half as the
Ravens were able to shake loose from Saint Anselm to pick up the
win.
After the Hawks had tied the game
at 54-all with 8:54 remaining, Jean-Guillaume came up huge on the
Ravens next two possessions, including bombing in a deep
three-pointer from well beyond the top of the key and running the
length of the floor for a transition layup.
Saint Anselm kept it close
momentarily and was within four at 61-57 with 5:43 to go, but
Jean-Guillaume, again, had an answer and converted a three-point
play on a fantastic floating layup and free throw. He scored five
more points during the final two-and-a-half minutes to keep Saint
Anselm at bay.
It was the fifth time
Jean-Guillaume has gone for 20-or-more points this season. He was
9-of-21 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line
Junior forward Ellis Cooper
(Northampton, Mass.) followed with 15 points and nine
rebounds for Franklin Pierce. Five of his nine boards came on the
offensive glass as the Ravens posted 19 second-chance points.
Junior frontcourt-mate
Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos,
Athens) was Franklin Pierce's other double-digit
scorer with 11 points as he returned to the lineup after missing
the last several games with an injury.
All three of those players were
vital in the Ravens staying in the game early as they watched Saint
Anselm score 10 of the first 13 points before Franklin Pierce
rattled off 25-consecutive points.
Cooper settled things down as he
worked his way down low for back-to-back layups, and Vourliotakis
followed moments later with two-straight layups of his own.
Jean-Guillaume responded with
seven-straight points on a pair of layups and a three-pointer.
Cooper added his third layup in the run and Vourliotakis capped it
with a baseline jumper.
It was Saint Anselm's turn to
respond and it did, eventually cutting Franklin Pierce's lead
to four at 37-33 with 2:12 left until halftime as Chris Santo drove
in for the layup, which was two of his team-high 15 points off the
bench.
Cooper dropped in another basket
late in the stanza to give the Ravens a 40-33 advantage at the
intermission.
The teams continued to trade
baskets early in the second half before the Hawks went on a 10-2
run, kick-started by a three from John Nielsen, to pull even at
54-54. But Jean-Guillaume had other plans and pulled off the
heroics for Franklin Pierce.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Wednesday when the Ravens play host to Bentley at 7:30 p.m. in The
Fieldhouse. The game will mark Senior Night as the Ravens will
honor the 2013 senior class both Jean-Guillaume and Josh
Jones (Salem, N.H.).
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/FranklinPierceRavens).
Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's basketball
apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store
at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
