MANCHESTER, N.H. (March 6, 2013) -- The Franklin Pierce
University men's basketball team overcame a late deficit Wednesday
night to pull out a thrilling 71-68 win over No. 9 Saint Anselm in
the Northeast-10 Conference Championship semifinals at Stoutenburgh
Gymnasium in Manchester. The fourth-seeded Ravens improved to 21-7
and punched their ticket to Saturday's NE-10 championship game,
while the top-seeded and conference regular season champion Hawks
fell to 23-5.
Franklin Pierce will be making its
first appearance in the NE-10 championship in program history and
will play host to sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire in the finals
on Saturday at 1 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Penmen
advanced to the championship game via an 81-62 decision over
10th-seeded Saint Rose on Wednesday night in the tournament's other
semifinal contest.
Franklin Pierce and Southern New
Hampshire have a storied history against each other on the hardwood
and Saturday's contest will be the latest chapter as the teams will
be vying for the NE-10 crown and the league's automatic bid to the
NCAA Division II Tournament. The Ravens swept the two-game regular
season series from the Penmen, including an 83-73 win in Rindge
back on Nov. 28.
For the second time in as many
games on Wednesday, the Ravens had to shake off a late second half
deficit. Franklin Pierce found itself down 64-61 with 4:13
remaining after Saint Anselm reeled off seven consecutive points,
including five straight from Chris Santo to cap the surge.
The Hawks seemed to be gaining
momentum at the right time, but Franklin Pierce junior forward
Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) had other ideas
and began a physical one-man assault down in the low post on the
offensive end. He scored on three-straight possessions for Franklin
Pierce, including muscling his way for a layup, knocking down a
jumper in the paint and converting a pair of free throws with 2:39
left to put the Ravens back on top at 67-65.
Cooper didn't score on Franklin
Pierce's next possession, but still came up huge by grabbing an
offensive board and kicking it out to senior guard Eric
Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who knocked down a
15-footer to make it a two possession game at 69-65 with 1:40 to
go.
Santo, who had been Saint Anselm's one-man wrecking crew during
its run moments earlier, answered for his team once again by
fighting through a pair of Ravens to tip in a miss to pull the
Hawks to within two.
Franklin Pierce couldn't put the
game away at the other end and St. A's had a chance to tie or
perhaps pull out the win as it held for the final shot. James Morse
worked his way along the left side of the baseline in the closing
seconds and drew a foul, but after making the first of two free
throws, he clanged the second attempt off the back iron and
sophomore forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.)
snatched the rebound, drew a foul and hit both foul shots at the
other end to seal the win for the Ravens.
Cooper finished with 18 points and
ripped down 16 boards for his second-straight double-double output.
Jean-Guillaume pumped in 17 points, while grabbing three rebounds,
dishing out three assists and swiping a trio of steals. Vilmont had
13 points and six boards to aid the attack. Junior forward
Ant Lessane (Brooklyn, N.Y.) provided another
strong spark off the bench by going 3-for-4 from behind the arc for
nine points.
The Ravens held a 40-31 advantage
on the glass as seven of the nine players that saw action logged
multiple rebounds. Franklin Pierce overcame 15 turnovers by
shooting a solid 46 percent (24-of-52) from the field, including a
strong 44 percent (8-of-18) from three-point range.
Santo had 12 points off the bench
for the Hawks, while Roy Mabrey netted a team-best 15 points. Mike
McCahey and Morse contributed with 11 and 10, respectively.
Saint Anselm got out of the gates
quick by scoring the first five points and the Hawks led for a
majority of the first half, but could not quite pull away as the
Ravens kept it close.
After trailing for the first 15
minutes of the game, Franklin Pierce turned the tide and mounted a
12-0 run to take its first lead of the game at 37-32 with 3:00 left
until halftime. Vilmont sparked the surge with a layup and
back-to-back three-pointers. The Ravens continued to hold the lead
the remainder of the period and took a 41-37 advantage into
intermission.
It was the Hawks turn to mount a
rally and they did by scoring eight of the second half's first 10
points, aided by four points apiece from Mabrey and Dino Mallios,
to retake the lead at 45-43.
The teams traded baskets for the
next several minutes before Franklin Pierce responded with an 8-0
run on the strength of six points from Jean-Guillaume and another
Cooper jumper in the paint to take a 59-55 lead with 7:01 left. The
teams continued to trade baskets before St. A's went on its run to
set up the final few frantic possessions of the game.
Franklin Pierce improved to 6-0
this season when facing a team which was either ranked or receiving
honorable mention votes for the Division II top-25 poll at the time
of tipoff.
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(.)
