RINDGE, N.H. (January 11, 2014) – Junior forward
Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) pumped in a
career-high 32 points to lead the No. 16 nationally ranked Franklin
Pierce University men's basketball team to an 85-83 win over
Saint Rose on Saturday afternoon at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.
The Ravens improved to 12-2 overall
and 7-2 in the Northeast-10, while the Golden Knights dipped to 8-7
and 5-4 in league play. The win also kept the Ravens from dropping
back-to-back games for the first in two full calendar years.
Vilmont's career-high point
total came on an 8-of-13 shooting clip from the field, including a
6-of-10 effort from three-point range. And while the Ravens as a
team struggled shooting from the foul line (18-of-30, 60%), Vilmont
was not plagued by the woes as he was 10-for-10.
Vilmont had 15 points in the second
half alone and came up with multiple crucial three-pointers to keep
the decision in Franklin Pierce's favor. His three just
minutes into the stanza stemmed an opening 7-0 surge by Saint Rose
and allowed the Ravens to tie the game at 44-44. He bombed in a
triple with 6:23 left to snap a 64-all tie, which also sparked an
11-2 run by the Ravens, who would never trail the rest of the
way.
But as Saint Rose continually hung
around in the closing minutes, Vilmont would not allow the Golden
Knights to take the lead as he was a cool 6-for-6 from the foul
line in the final :59.
The 11-2 run that was started by
Vilmont was aided by five-consecutive points from senior guard
Curtis Christian (Harlem, N.Y.) on a deep three
from the right corner of the baseline and a pair of free
throws.
Senior forward Adrianos
Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) also came up
huge offensively for the Ravens, as he poured in a season-high 21
points. He had eight points in the second half, including a trio of
layups immediately following Vilmont's tying three moments
into the stanza. Those easy looks inside allowed the Ravens to
stabilize themselves for the remainder of the half before the
ensuing 11-2 run put them in control.
Classmate Ellis Cooper
(Northampton, Mass.) overcame a slow start offensively by
scoring 10 of his 13 points in the second half, mixing in baskets
around Vilmont's three-point shooting and Vourliotakis'
inside work.
Both teams put on an offensive
show, with Saint Rose connecting on 50 percent of its attempts,
while the Ravens were right behind at 49 percent.
Dominykas Milka netted a team-high
23 points for the Golden Knights, while Tyler Sayre added 17. Chris
Dorgler came off the pine to contribute 11 points.
The opening minutes of the game
went back and forth with four ties and eight lead changes. Franklin
Pierce then used an 8-2 run midway through the frame, kick-started
by a layup from Vourliotakis, to take a 28-22 lead before heading
into the locker room with a 41-37 edge at the break.
Vilmont had 17 in the first half,
while Vourliotakis netted 13.
Franklin Pierce returns to action
next Saturday when the Ravens travel to face New Haven at 1:30 p.m.
in West Haven, Conn.
For more information on Franklin
Pierce men's basketball, please visit the team's page
at http://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 http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)
