Ravens 66.7-percent shooting in the second half spells doom for Setters

NEW YORK, N.Y. (January 17, 2002) - Franklin Pierce shot 66.7-percent (16-24) from the field in the second half to fend off first-place Pace University, ranked third in this week's NCAA Northeast Regional poll, 79-71 in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Civic Center Gymnasium in lower Manhattan tonight.

With the game tied 14-14 midway through the first half, the Ravens used an 11-0 run book-ended by a pair of layups by senior Alfonso Payne (Boston, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) to get some breathing room as they held Pace scoreless over a six-minute span.

Pace closed the gap to six by halftime (32-26), but the Ravens hot shooting in the second half and a 14-1 run over the opening five minutes of the stanza gave Franklin Pierce its largest lead of the game (46-33). Three-pointers from sophomore Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) and junior V.J. Kwity (Torrance, Calif./West) sparked the run.

The Setters would close the gap to four points (46-42) with 12:04 to play after a three-pointer from senior Al Elliott, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the night.

Pace trailed by five (57-52) with 7:54 to play, but Franklin Pierce extended their lead back to 13 points (71-58) with a 14-6 run over the next six-minutes to put the game away with 1:25 to play.

Senior forward Kevin Scott (Mississauga, Ontario/Iona Catholic) was unstoppable for the Ravens as he totaled a game-high 23 points, on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor, to go along with nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks.

Payne added a career-high 19 points, on 6-10 shooting from the floor and a 6-8 effort at the free-throw line, in just 21 minutes of work off the bench. Senior Zvonko Ilic (Nis, Yugoslavia/K.K. Student) chipped in 14 points (6-9 shooting) and two steals, while Rodgerson totaled 12 points and two steals.

Franklin Pierce finished the night shooting 53.7% (29-54) from the field, including 47.1% (8-17) from three-point range from which they shot 55.6% (5-9) in the closing 20-minutes.

Elliott finished with 20 points, six rebounds and three steals to lead Pace. Freshman Carlos Martinez (Frederick, Md./St. John Prospect Hall) added 14 points and six boards in 22 minutes off the bench, while senior Jay Carlington chipped in 12 points.

Franklin Pierce (9-6, 6-5 NE-10) looks to extend its season-long winning streak to five games when it travels to Syracuse, N.Y., to face Le Moyne College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Pace (13-3, 10-2 NE-10) travels to Assumption College on Saturday for tip-off at 3:30 p.m.