Hunt nets career-high 35 thanks to school-record 17-of-17 effort at the line

RINDGE, N.H. (February 15, 2003) - Junior swingman Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) missed just one shot all night in scoring a career-high 35 points to lead Franklin Pierce to a 91-85 victory over Bryant College in a Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball shootout at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this afternoon.

Hunt set a school-record by draining a perfect 17-of-17 free-throw attempts and hit 9-10 from the field for his career-best 35 point (20 second half) total. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, dished three assists and snared two steals. Hunt's perfect game at the line surpasses teammate V.J. Kwity's (Torrance, Calif./West) perfect 10-10 (at UMass Lowell, 12/5/01) and 9-9 (vs. UC Santa Cruz, 12/27/00) efforts as well as an 8-8 night by former Ravens sharpshooter Bob Szklarz during the 1967-68 season.

Freshman Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) netted a season-high 23 points, aided by a 9-15 effort from the field, to go with four rebounds and two blocks. SeniorTom Waterman (Bangor, Maine/Bangor) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points to go with a season-high eight assists and two steals. Senior Zvonko Ilic (Nis, Yugoslavia) chipped in seven rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

Senior Jon Wallace led five Bryant players in double-figures with 16 points, aided by a 4-7 effort from three-point range, and three steals. Freshman John Williams totaled 13 points and three assists, while classmate Dan Hammond added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. He was a perfect 5-5 from the field, including 2-2 from long-distance. Junior Jason Noel chipped in 11 points, a team-high six rebounds (three offensive) and three assists. Sophomore Cullen McCarthy hit 3-6 three's for ten points (all first half) off the bench.

Both teams shot over 55-percent from the field or better, with Franklin Pierce canning 57.4% (31-54) of its shots, including 65% (13-20) in the second half. Bryant shot 54.7% (29-53) from the floor, cooling off some after shooting 61.5% (16-26) over the opening 20-minutes. The Bulldogs matched a school record with 15 three-point baskets, hitting 53.6% (15-28) of their attempts for the game. They canned 10-16 (62.5%) in the opening half.

Hunt led a Ravens team that scored 28 points at the line (28-37) compared to 12 for Bryant (12-20). Franklin Pierce also took good care of the ball, committing just ten turnovers, while forcing Bryant into 16, and also won the battle of the boards, 34-24.

Bryant came out blazing in the opening half, building a nine-point lead (45-36) with 3:10 left before the break. Franklin Pierce, however, rolled into the locker room as it scored the final ten points of the stanza to take a 46-45 lead at the intermission. Hunt capped the rally with a lay-up on an offensive rebound with a second to play and scored six of the ten points.

The Ravens continued to roll with an 8-2 run to open the second half with Hunt scoring six more points to take a seven-point lead (54-47) just 3:16 in.

Bryant used a 10-4 run, sparked by a pair of three's from Wallace and back-to-back hoops from Noel, to trim its deficit to one point (63-62) with 11:45 to play.

Leading by two (71-69) with 8:17 left in regulation, Franklin Pierce reeled off an 11-3 run to open a ten-point (82-72) advantage with 4:22 to play. Hunt netted all 11 points during a stretch in which he scored 14-straight Franklin Pierce points.

Bryant wouldn't go away, rallying to within three on two occasions with under two and a half to play, but could get no closer as Franklin Pierce held on getting two clutch free-throws from Powell with 24-seconds to play.

Franklin Pierce (12-13, 10-10 NE-10) returns to the hardwood on Wednesday for a key Conference battle at Assumption College at 7:30 p.m. Bryant (15-12, 10-9 NE-10) hosts Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

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