Ravens now travel to Saint Rose in NE-10 first round battle on Saturday

RINDGE, N.H. (February 20, 2002) - Franklin Pierce saw a 21-point lead evaporate, but held on for a 79-73 win over UMass Lowell, ranked fourth in the Northeast Region, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.

Despite the win, Franklin Pierce (15-11, 12-10 NE-10) will be the No. 9 seed in the upcoming Northeast-10 Tournament as a result of American International College's 80-73 loss to Bentley College. The loss created a three-way tie with Franklin Pierce and College of Saint Rose with 12-10 Conference marks. AIC claims the No. 7 seed as a result of a 2-1 mark against those two schools and Saint Rose the eighth seed with a 2-2 clip. Franklin Pierce was 1-2 against the two teams this season.

The Ravens and Saint Rose will play Saturday in Albany, N.Y., at 2 p.m.

UMass Lowell (19-6, 16-6 NE-10), who had already earned a first round bye, will be the No. 3 seed and will host an NE-10 Quarterfinal round game on Monday, February 25, at 7 p.m. The River Hawks will face the winner of Saturday's game between No. 6 Saint Anselm College and No. 11 Le Moyne College.

Franklin Pierce built an 11-point halftime lead (35-24) and extended the lead to 22 points (48-26) by the 15:54 mark of the second half following a 13-2 run to open the stanza. Senior Kevin Scott (Mississauga, Ontario/Iona Catholic) sparked the run with six points and sophomore Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) capped the rally with a three-pointer.

Trailing by 21 points (60-39) with 9:50 to play UMass Lowell used its zone press to eat away at the lead. The River Hawks used a 21-5 run over the next six minutes to trim the deficit to five points (65-60) with 3:37 to play. Senior Eyal Leib sparked the rally with a pair of three-pointers.

After a pair of Scott free throws pushed the Franklin Pierce lead back to seven points, UML cut the lead to a single point (67-66) after a Shahar Nachmias layup with 1:30 to play.

However, that would be as close as the River Hawks would get, as a Rodgerson layup, followed by another pair of Scott free throws after a UML turnover bumped the lead back to five. Franklin Pierce iced the game from there by making all six free throw attempts in the final 32-seconds.

Scott led Franklin Pierce with a game-high 25 points, on 8-11 shooting from the floor and an 8-8 effort at the free throw line, to go along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior V.J. Kwity (Torrance, Calif./West) added 14 points (11 second half), aided by an 8-10 effort at the line, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Rodgerson finished with 12 points, four assists and two steals, while senior Alfonso Payne (Boston, Mass./Boston Latin Academy) totaled ten points (all first half) five rebounds and three assists. Junior Tom Waterman (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) chipped in seven points, five assists and a career-high six steals.

Sophomore Elad Inbar (Kiryat Haim, Israel/Ort Bailik) led UMass Lowell with 21 points, on 6-8 shooting from the floor and a 9-9 effort at the line, four steals and two blocks. Classmate Uri Grunwald totaled 15 points and five assists, while Leib finished with 14 points, four boards and three assists. Nachmias chipped in ten points and five steals.