Ravens 24.1-percent shooting in the second half spells doom

MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 16, 2002) - Southern New Hampshire University rallied from 16-points down early in the second half to post a 75-72 victory over Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the SNHU Fieldhouse this afternoon.

Junior forward Brian Larrabee netted a game-high 26 points to lead Southern New Hampshire as he hit seven-of-11 shots from the floor, including 3-4 from three-point range, and drained 9-10 from the free-throw line.

Classmate Sotirios Karapostolou added 21 points, aided by four three-pointers, to go along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Sophomore Mark Yeaton rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Penmen with 12 points.

The Ravens built an 11-point halftime lead (46-35) thanks to a 53.8-percent (14-26) shooting effort from the field, including 6-9 from long-distance, but managed to hit just 24.1% (7-29) in the second half.

Sophomore Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) led Franklin Pierce
with 15 points, aided by a 3-5 effort from beyond the arc, while classmate Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) netted 14 points.

Junior V.J. Kwity (Torrance, Calif./West) netted 13 first half points, but was silenced in the second half by the Penmen, missing all four field goal attempts. He also chipped in five rebounds. SNHU also contained senior forward Kevin Scott (Mississauga, Ontario/Iona Catholic) to eight points, on 2-12 shooting, and eight rebounds.

Classmate Alfonso Payne (Boston, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) added ten points and four rebounds off the bench and nearly sent the game into overtime but his shot from ten feet beyond half court rattled in-and-out of the rim.

Franklin Pierce jumped out early, scoring the first 12 points of the contest over the opening 2:30, but SNHU answered with a 14-0 run to take its first lead of the game (14-12) at the 13:40 mark.

The Ravens regained their composure and opened a ten-point lead (41-31) with 2:47 to play in the first half. The lead was 11 (46-35) at the break and grew to 16 points with a 7-2 run over the first two-minutes of the second half.

The Penmen fought back and knotted the game at 68-68 with 5:25 to play on a Larrabee layin. He then finished off the conventional three-point play to give SNHU its first lead of the second half.

The lead seesawed over the next three-minutes and Scott gave Franklin Pierce a 72-71 advantage with a pair of free throws at the 2:54 mark. The Penmen took the lead for good with a Yeaton jumper at the 1:02 mark. The Ravens shot themselves in the foot over the final five minutes by missing their last eight field goal attempts, including three in the final 30-seconds that would have given them the lead.

Franklin Pierce (14-11, 11-10 NE-10) rounds out the regular season on Wednesday as it hosts UMass Lowell at 7:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (16-8, 13-8 NE-10) travels to UMass Lowell on Monday at 7:30 p.m.