Ant Lessane adds 9 points and 2 rebounds off the bench for the
Ravens
RINDGE, N.H. (February 6, 2013) – The Franklin
Pierce University men's basketball team rained in a barrage
of three-pointers in the second half to pull away for a satisfying
73-53 win over Stonehill on Wednesday night at The Fieldhouse in
Rindge. The Ravens improved to 15-5 overall and 12-4 in the
Northeast-10, while the Skyhawks dipped to 10-10 and 6-10 in league
play.
Three Ravens scored in
double-figures, including senior guard Eric
Jean-Guillaume's (Stamford, Conn.) game-high 19
points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Jean-Guillaume's
hot shooting was part of Franklin Pierce's 57 percent
shooting clip (26-of-46) for the game, including an impressive 50
percent (10-of-20) from three-point range. The Ravens were a
blistering 86 percent (6-of-7) from beyond the arc in the second
half.
Junior guard Andre
Blackwood (Paterson, N.J.) also had an outstanding game as
he was 4-of-6 from the field, knocked down a trio of treys (all in
the second half) and scored 15 points off the bench.
His three-point shooting, in
particular a four-point play, snapped the Ravens out of their
sluggish ways which spanned the opening 29 minutes of the game and
saw them clinging to just a slim 44-42 lead.
Blackwood flipped the switch for
the Ravens at the 10:44 mark when he flashed out to the left wing,
took a skip pass from Jean-Guillaume, and calmly drilled a three
while being fouled on the play. He hit the ensuing free throw and
the Ravens were off and running as they mounted a 15-0 run.
Jean-Guillaume and junior guard
Georgios Papapetrou (Athens, Greece) followed with
consecutive triples and a couple of possessions later Blackwood
dropped in another trey to make it 59-42 with 7:27 to go.
Papapetrou connected on another
three moments later and the Ravens held a 64-44 advantage. Franklin
Pierce pushed its lead out to as many as 22 in the closing minutes,
including at 68-46 with 3:35 left as junior forward Ellis
Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) worked his way into the paint
for a layup. That basket was part of Cooper's 10 points in
the contest.
Franklin Pierce outscored the
Skyhawks, 42-23, in the second half and held Stonehill to just a 36
percent shooting performance (20-of-56) for the game.
Franklin Pierce reserves outscored
Stonehill's by a 30-18 count, and in addition to
Blackwood's total, senior forward Ant Lessane
(Brooklyn, N.Y.) had nine points.
The Ravens held the narrowest of
leads at halftime as they were up 31-30. It was an impressive
accomplishment in that Franklin Pierce had an awful start to the
game and trailed 20-9 midway through the half following
back-to-back threes from Stonehill's Sam Markle and Adam
Fazzini.
Franklin Pierce finally awoke and
scored 11 of the game's next 13 points, keyed by a pair of
treys from sophomore forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia,
Pa.) and another three-ball from junior forward
Matt Barboza (East Providence, R.I.). The Ravens
kept clawing away until taking the one-point lead at halftime when
Lessane knocked down a jumper at the buzzer.
Jack Cole led Stonehill with 11
points, while Markle added 10.
The win gave Franklin Pierce the
two-game regular season sweep of Stonehill, marking the
second-straight season the Ravens turned that trick. The Ravens
downed the Skyhawks, 85-73, back in Easton, Mass. on Nov. 20.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
Saturday when the Ravens travel to Colchester, Vt. to take on Saint
Michael's at 3:30 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 men's basketball apparel can do so
on the athletic department's online store at
athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
