Franklin Pierce Battles Past Stonehill, 64-51
Rodgerson becomes 24th player in Franklin Pierce history to reach 1,000-point mark
RINDGE, N.H. (February 5, 2003) - Franklin Pierce erased a nine-point first half deficit and battled to a 64-51 victory over Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.
Franklin Pierce junior Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) became the 24th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau when he converted a layup at the 12:12-mark of the first half. He kept the Ravens in the match-up through the opening half, netting 12 of their 28 points on five-of-seven shooting from the floor, including 2-3 from three-point range. Rodgerson finished the game with 16 points (6-9 shooting from the field, overall), four rebounds and four steals. The 16 points gives him 1,012 for his three-year career at the College.
While it was Rodgerson that gave Franklin Pierce the chance to take a 28-27 lead at the break, it was classmate Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) that carried the Ravens over the hump in the second half. Hunt netted 16 of his game-high 19 points over the final 20 minutes and also added a game-best six rebounds.
Freshman Marquis Taylor led Stonehill with a season-high 16 points on 6-11 shooting from the floor, including 3-5 from three-point range, and grabbed four rebounds. Senior Kyle Quimby added 12 points and a team-high five rebounds. Freshman Chris Kraus chipped in nine points and four rebounds.
Stonehill held a nine-point (25-16) lead with 3:56 remaining in the opening half after a jumper by sophomore Dezmond Morgan. Franklin Pierce closed out the half with a 9-0 run sparked by a Rodgerson three-pointer and capped by an Allister Gall (Plymouth, England) trifecta at the buzzer which game the Ravens a 28-27 advantage heading into the lockerroom.
The Ravens scored the first six points of the second half to widen the lead to seven points (34-27) three minutes in with Hunt netting four.
After a Taylor three-pointer trimmed the lead to four (36-32), Franklin Pierce used a 9-3 run to open the first double-digit lead of the game (45-35) at the midway point. Hunt followed up a Raven miss with a lay-in and Gall drained another three-ball to spark the rally.
Stonehill trimmed the deficit to six points on two occasions, with the last coming at the 8:46-mark after a Morgan three-pointer, but Franklin Pierce drained 11 of its next 13 free-throw attempts to ice the win.
Franklin Pierce (10-12, 8-9 NE-10) returns to the hardwood on Saturday when it hosts Bentley College at 3:30 p.m. Stonehill (5-15, 2-14 NE-10) hosts Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.