Conference tiebreaker sends ninth-seeded Ravens on the road to face No. 8 Saint Rose

RINDGE, N.H. (February 21, 2002) - Franklin Pierce has advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament for the second-straight season, but due to the intricacies of the Conference's tiebreaker procedures, the No. 9-seeded Ravens will hit the road to face No. 8 College of Saint Rose on Saturday in Albany, N.Y., at 2 p.m.

Franklin Pierce was originally under the impression that all it had to do was win its last regular season game against UMass Lowell to clinch the eighth seed and host Saint Rose on Saturday, but American International College suffered an 80-73 loss to Bentley College which created a three-way tie with Franklin Pierce and Saint Rose with identical 12-10 Conference marks.

Under NE-10 tiebreaker procedures, the three teams are broken up based on their records against the other two teams in the "mini-conference." AIC was 2-1 against the other two, while Saint Rose was 2-2 and Franklin Pierce 1-2.

Therefore, Franklin Pierce will face Saint Rose at the Campus Activities Center in Albany on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Franklin Pierce and Saint Rose split the regular season series between the two teams, but haven't seen each other since early December. Saint Rose posted an 87-85 win in Albany in the Conference opener for both on November 20. Golden Knights senior Jason Bariteau drained a 25-foot runner at the buzzer to lift his team to the win. The shot came after Franklin Pierce junior V.J. Kwity (Torrance, Calif./West) tipped in a missed three-pointer by sophomore Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) with two-seconds on the clock to give the Ravens a one-point lead.

Franklin Pierce picked up a 75-69 overtime victory at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse on December 8. Saint Rose forced overtime that afternoon by erasing a nine-point deficit with 7:55 to play with an 11-2 run to knot the score with 2:50 to play. In overtime, junior Phil Sellers gave CSR a 69-68 lead, but Franklin Pierce took control by scoring the final seven points of the contest. Kwity lead Franklin Pierce with 16 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, while Sellers led the Knights with 16 points.

Franklin Pierce enters the postseason on a bit of a roll, having won four of its last five games, including last night's 79-73 win over UMass Lowell, ranked fourth in the Northeast Region and the third seed in the Conference Tournament.

Franklin Pierce has shown its ability to beat anybody on any given night, with seven wins against teams either ranked nationally or regionally this season. In fact, the Ravens are 7-8 against ranked opponents this year.

Senior forward Kevin Scott (Mississauga, Ontario/Iona Catholic) leads the Ravens this season, averaging 15.3 points (15th in the NE-10), 8.8 rebounds (2nd) and 1.6 blocks (2nd) per game. His .522 (164-314) shooting percentage ranks sixth in the Conference and he ranks seventh with 2.5 offensive boards per contest.

Scott has led the Ravens in rebounding in 20 of their 26 games played and in scoring ten times this season. His team-high ten double-doubles this year ranks second among NE-10 leaders. Scott had a monster week in the 2001 Northeast-10 Tournament as he averaged 25.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in three postseason games. He netted a career-high 37 points, on 16-of-22 shooting from the floor, and grabbed ten rebounds (six offensive) in the Ravens Quarterfinal round upset of Saint Anselm College.

Kwity averages 14.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. His .800 free-throw percentage ranks ninth in the Conference. SophomoreJimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) adds 13.8 points, on 54.8-percent (69-126) shooting from the field, and 3.4 rebounds. He missed over two months during the middle of the season with a stress fracture in his foot, but has played the last six games for FPC. Rodgerson is also an active offensive player for the Ravens, averaging 13.5 points, shooting 42.5% (57-134) from three-point range (7th in the NE-10), and 2.4 assists. His 57 trifectas ranks eighth in the League.

Saint Rose is scuffling slightly into postseason play, depite its 93-79 win over Saint Michael's College last night, as it has dropped three of its last five games. Prior to that, the Golden Knights had reeled off three-straight wins and five victories in their previous six games.

Sellers leads the Knights, averaging 18.9 points (5th in the NE-10), 8.5 rebounds (3rd) and 0.9 blocks per game. He is shooting 57% (184-323) from the field, which is good for fifth among Conference leaders. Sophomore Jesse Cort averages 14.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per night. Freshman Kyl Jones has made an immediate impact with 11.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per game.

"They are a very good basketball team," said Franklin Pierce Head Coach David Chadbourne. "It doesn't matter if we play them at home or not because they are so good. Ultimately, we are going to need to play really hard to win because they will take advantage if we don't play well."

Franklin Pierce leads the all-time series between the two schools by an 8-4 margin. The programs will meet for the first time in NE-10 Tournament play on Saturday.

The winner of Saturday's game will advance to the quarterfinal round and will face top-seeded and NE-10 Regular Season Champion Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., on Monday at 7 p.m.

2002 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament First Round -
Saturday, February 23, 2 p.m.:
Game 1: #12 Saint Michael's (11-15, 7-15 NE-10) at #5 Southern New Hampshire (16-10, 13-9 NE-10)
Game 2: #11 Le Moyne (11-15, 7-15 NE-10 at #6 Saint Anselm (16-10, 13-9 NE-10)
Game 3: #10 Southern Connecticut State (14-12, 11-11 NE-10) at #7 American International (14-12, 12-10 NE-10)
Game 4: #9 Franklin Pierce (15-11, 12-10 NE-10) at #8 Saint Rose (15-11, 12-10 NE-10)

Quarterfinals - Monday, February 25, 7 p.m.:
Game 5: Game 4 winner at #1 Assumption (22-4, 18-4 NE-10)
Game 6: Game 3 winner at #2 Pace (20-6, 17-5 NE-10)
Game 7: Game 2 winner at #3 UMass Lowell (19-7, 16-6 NE-10)
Game 8: Game 1 winner at #4 Bentley (17-9, 16-6 NE-10)

Semifinals - Thursday, February 28, 6 p.m. (all games at higher seed):
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 winner
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner

Championship - Saturday, March 2, 1 p.m.:
Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner

FP Game Notes
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