AIC Shoots Past Franklin Pierce, 88-70
Yellow Jackets use 58.8-percent shooting effort to top Ravens
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 21, 2004) - American International College kept its postseason chances alive and ended the home-court hopes of Franklin Pierce with an 88-70 victory in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Butova Gymnasium this afternoon.
American International opened a seven-point halftime lead thanks to 60.7-percent (17-28) shooting from the field, including 8-12 (66.7%) from three-point range, and held Franklin Pierce to 38.5% (10-26) from the field over the final 20 minutes while hitting 56.5% (13-23) from the floor itself.
The loss eliminates any chance of Franklin Pierce hosting an NE-10 Tournament first round contest and the Ravens must now hit the road for first round action next Saturday, February 28, at 2 p.m. Their opponent is far from determined as the final Conference games are slated to be played this week.
Senior guard Shaaron Sinvilcin (Port Chester, N.Y./Trinity Catholic) led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 24 points to go with six assists and four steals. Sophomore John Huggins (Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic) totaled 21 points, while junior Anthony Lee (Norwalk, Conn./Brien McMahon) added 11 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Freshman Darryl Minifield (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) scored all 14 of his points in the second half, to give the Ravens a chance at a comeback, to go with four rebounds. Senior preseason All-American Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) also netted 14 points (nine first half) to go with a team-best five rebounds. Sophomore Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) chipped in nine points, three boards and four assists.
AIC led by seven (19-12) just over eight minutes into the contest, but Franklin Pierce posted a 17-5 run to take its first lead of the game and extend it to five points (29-24) after a three-pointer from senior Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy).
The game was back-and-forth over the next three minutes before AIC rounded out the half with a 10-2 run to take a seven-point (45-38) lead into the intermission. Sinvilcin and Lee capped the run with back-to-back three-pointers.
The Ravens cut the lead to five points (47-42) two minutes into the second half, but a 14-1 Yellow Jackets run gave them an 18-point edge (61-43) with 12:39 to play.
Franklin Pierce had one last run left in it as a 9-2 rally closed the gap to nine points (71-62) with 5:14 to play, but the Ravens would get no closer as an 8-1 Yellow Jacket run would extend their lead back to 16 (79-63) with 3:37 left in regulation.
Franklin Pierce (14-13, 10-12) now awaits a first round opponent in next week's NE-10 Tournament with the first round slated for Saturday, February 28, at 2 p.m. American International (9-17, 6-15 NE-10) rounds out the regular season at Stonehill on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.