Ellis Cooper notches 16 points and 7 rebounds
RINDGE, N.H. (February 20, 2013) -- The No. 23 nationally
ranked Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team dropped a
66-60 decision to Bentley on Wednesday night at The Fieldhouse in
Rindge. The Ravens had their six-game winning streak snapped in
falling to 18-6 overall and 15-5 in the Northeast-10, while the
Falcons improved to 9-15 and 7-13 in league play.
Jasper Grassa pumped in a
career-high 30 points to lead the Falcons to victory. Three of
those came on a desparation attempt from well beyond the top of the
key with just :54 remaining to avoid a shot clock violation and
break a 55-all tie. He sealed the win for Bentley by hitting five
free throws in the remaining :37 of the game.
Grassa's heroics were needed after
the Ravens went on a furious 8-0 run during a 90-second span to
knot the game at 55-55. Senior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume
(Stamford, Conn.), who was playing in his final regular
season home game on Senior Night, hit a pair of free throws with
2:51 remaining, and after a steal from Ellis Cooper
(Northampton, Mass.) on the ensuing inbounds pass, the
senior guard took a skip pass and drained a three-pointer from the
left wing to pull the Ravens to within three.
Jean-Guillaume dropped in another
three pointer moments later to knot the score. He finished the game
with 25 points, marking the second-straight game he topped the
20-point mark. Cooper followed with 14 points and seven rebounds as
those were the only two Ravens to reach double-figures on the
evening. Franklin Pierce shot just 38 percent from the floor
(24-of-63) and were limited to just a 31 percent shooting clip from
beyond the arc.
Bentley's Tyler McFarland scored
eight of his 10 points in the second half as the Falcons never
trailed from the 5:24 mark of the first half on. He, too, hit a
couple of free throws late to help Bentley come away with the upset
win.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Saturday when the Ravens travel to face UMass-Lowell at 4 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/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(.)