Ellis Cooper with 30 points & 16 rebounds in final
collegiate game
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (March 16, 2014) – The Franklin
Pierce University men's basketball team dropped a
heart-breaking 79-77 decision in the final :02 to Southern
Connecticut State in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Division II
Tournament East Regional on Sunday night at the Moore Fieldhouse in
New Haven, Conn.
The fourth-seeded Ravens concluded
their season with a 21-8 record, while top-seeded and No. 3
nationally ranked Southern Connecticut State improved to 29-2 and
advanced to Tuesday's East Regional Championship versus
third-seeded Saint Anselm.
Tylon Smith, who had a team-high 21
points for SCSU, dropped in the game-winning layup with :02 left,
as the Owls scored the game's final six points to complete
the come-from-behind victory.
Senior forward Ellis Cooper
(Northampton, Mass.), playing in his final collegiate game
for Franklin Pierce, logged an incredible double-double of 30
points and 16 rebounds, while moving into the top-10 in program
history for career scoring with 1,503 points. He became the
10th player in program history to go over 1,500 career
points.
Junior forward Ryen Vilmont
(Philadelphia, Pa.) followed with 20 points, including
knocking down a three-pointer with 2:25 to go to put the Ravens up
73-71. He hit 1-of-2 free throws moments later to stake Franklin
Pierce to a 77-73 edge.
Smith followed by converting a pair
of free throws at the other end of the court, and then swiped a
steal that resulted in a tip-in from Luke Houston with :43
remaining to knot the score at 77-all.
It looked like the game
wouldn't come down to a last second attempt as the Owls
opened up a 61-53 lead with 9:24 remaining after Deshawn Murphy
converted a three-point play. However, Vilmont keyed a 10-2 run
with seven points as the Ravens tied the game at 63-63 with 7:07
left.
Senior forward Adrianos
Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens), who had a
second-straight double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, added
a couple points during that stretch to tie things up.
Michael Mallory came off the bench
to pump in 17 points for Southern Connecticut, while Murphy
followed with 10.
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(.)
