Franklin Pierce Jets Past AIC, 68-55
Hunt leads Ravens to victory with 18 points
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 23, 2003) - Franklin Pierce scored the first ten points of the game and never trailed in claiming a 68-55 victory over American International College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Butova Gymnasium tonight.
Junior guard Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) led all scorers with 18 points as he hit six-of-11 shots from the field, including 4-5 from three-point range. Classmate Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) totaled 15 points, aided by an 8-8 effort at the free-throw line, and grabbed four rebounds, while senior Tom Waterman (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) chipped in ten points, three assists and four rebounds. Senior Sharod Campbell (Dorchester, Mass./Boston English) was just one point shy of a double-double as he grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds and netted nine points.
Junior Shaaron Sinvilcin led American International with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists. Classmate Andre Riley came off the bench to add 11 points and eight rebounds, while Brock Cumberbatch chipped in seven points, eight boards and three blocks.
Three-pointers from Rodgerson and Hunt sparked the opening flurry for Franklin Pierce as it opened a 10-0 lead just four-minutes into the contest.
American International worked its deficit down to two points (22-20) by the 6:56-mark after a Cumberbatch put back.
Franklin Pierce held on for a four-point (31-27) halftime advantage, but came out firing in the second half as a 13-2 run to open the stanza built a 15-point lead (44-29) five and a half minutes in. Hunt and senior Zvonko Ilic (Nis, Yugoslavia) sparked the run with three-pointers, while Campbell registered two points, five rebounds and an assist during that span.
The Ravens would make that run prove to be the difference down the stretch as they never let the Yellow Jackets back within ten points the rest of the night.
Franklin Pierce shot 44-percent (11-25) from the field in the second half, compared to 31% (9-29) for AIC, en route to a 41.2% (21-51) shooting effort for the night. The Yellow Jackets hit just 33.3% (20-60) from the field, including 22% (4-18) from three-point land, for the game.
Franklin Pierce (8-10, 6-7 NE-10) travels to No. 3-ranked UMass Lowell on Saturday at 5 p.m. American International (5-13, 4-9 NE-10) hosts Saint Anselm College on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.