Franklin Pierce Upsets Assumption, 70-67
Hunt nets 20 to lead Ravens to win; Robinson totals 23 for ‘Hounds
RINDGE, N.H. (January 20, 2003) - Franklin Pierce shook off a pair of road losses last week and claimed a 70-67 upset victory over Assumption College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.
Junior Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) hit seven-of-12 shots from the field (2-4 from three-point range) and canned 4-5 at the free-throw line for 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists to lead Franklin Pierce.
Classmate Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) added 15 points, five steals and two assists, while freshman Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) chipped in 14 points, six boards (four offensive) and two blocks for the Ravens.
Sophomore forward Brian Robinson was a dominant force inside for Assumption, scoring a game-high 23 points on 8-16 shooting from the field and draining 7-11 attempts at the line to go with seven rebounds, six steals and three blocks.
Junior Roy Goffer was the only other Greyhound in double figures as he totaled 13 points. Junior Elijah Bland chipped in eight points.
Franklin Pierce trailed by nine points (28-19) with 5:49 remaining in the opening half, but a 9-2 run over the next three and a half minutes trimmed the deficit to two points (30-28) with 2:18 remaining in the stanza. Rodgerson sparked the run with seven points, including a three-pointer to cap the rally.
Assumption held on for a three-point halftime lead (33-30) and extended it to five with a Kevin Harrington lay-up on its first possession.
The Ravens were able to force the first of three ties in the second half when a Powell lay-in at the 12:15 mark knotted the score at 45-45. The Greyhounds regained a five-point cushion (50-45) after Blanc drained a three-ball at the 11:26-mark.
Franklin Pierce then posted a 17-4 run over the next five minutes to break open an eight-point lead (62-54) with 6:56 to play. Senior Allister Gall (Plymouth, England) sparked the rally with back-to-back three-pointers after a Hunt three and Rodgerson capped the run with a three.
Assumption used a 10-2 run to force a 66-66 deadlock with 3:39 left in regulation with Robinson netting five points.
Rodgerson was then fouled attempting a three-pointer at the top of the key with 2:36 to play and calmly drained all three free-throws to give the Ravens a three-point cushion.
After Harrington split two free-throw attempts with 2:05 on the clock, Assumption missed its next six field goal attempts and two free-throws before the Ravens were able to gain a three-point advantage after a split at the line by senior Josh Steinberger (Walden, N.Y./Valley Central) with 14 ticks left in regulation.
Assumption had one last shot to tie the game, but Harrington was off the mark with a three-pointer with seven seconds on the clock.
Both teams shot fairly well on the night, with Franklin Pierce hitting 45.1-percent (23-51) from the field, including 7-16 (43.8%) from three-point range, while Assumption shot 44.8% (26-58) from the floor. The Ravens won the game at the free-throw line, hitting 89.5% (17-19) of their attempts, compared to 61.5% (8-13) for the Greyhounds in a match-up of the top two free-throw shooting teams in the Northeast-10.
Franklin Pierce (7-10, 5-7 NE-10) embarks upon a four-game road trip over the next two weeks beginning with a game at American International College on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. UMass Lowell (12-4, 8-4 NE-10) travels to No. 2-ranked UMass Lowell on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.