Franklin Pierce Throws Scare Into #1 Bentley, 70-67
Ravens give newly anointed Falcons all they can handle
RINDGE, N.H. (February 8, 2005) - Rewarded with its first No. 1-ranking in 16 years earlier in the day, Bentley College was fortunate to escape with it in hand as the Falcons edged Franklin Pierce, 70-67, in a Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball thriller at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.
Bentley, which moved up a spot to No. 1 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II rankings this afternoon, clinched the NE-10 regular season crown and extended its current winning streak to 21 games with the victory.
Junior guard Tim Forbes (Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) led the Falcons with a game-high 22 points (12 second half) to go with three assists and three steals. He nearly single-handedly led Bentley back from a late three-point deficit as he scored eight of the Falcons last ten points.
Junior Sean Cooke (East Windsor, N.J./Notre Dame) added 15 points and three rebounds, while senior Greg Lacasse (Rochester, N.H./Spaulding) chipped in ten points, a game-best eight rebounds and two blocks.
Sophomore Darryl Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) led a balanced Franklin Pierce effort with 14 points as he hit four-of-seven from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, to go with five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Freshman Mitchell Johnson (Nassau, Bahamas/Cushing Academy) turned in a well-rounded game with ten points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Juniors Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) and Pierre Sully (Jamaica Plain, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic) each added 12 points, with Powell chipping in a team-best seven rebounds and Sully posting four boards and three steals.
Bentley closed out the first half on a 16-6 run to take a 13-point lead at the break (37-26). Forbes and sophomore Danny Lawson (Lexington, Mass./Lexington) both canned three's during the stretch.
The Falcons lead was ten (46-36) after a Forbes jumper 4:17 into the second half, but Franklin Pierce responded with a 14-4 run to knot the score at 50-50, with 9:08 to play, after back-to-back three's from Minnifield. Bentley regained a four-point edge, but three's from Johnson and Sully sandwiched a Powell put-back during an 8-0 run to give the Ravens a four-point lead (58-54) with 6:25 to play.
Forbes scored a lay-up with 3:13 to play that knotted the score at 62-62, but Sully answered with a three to put the Ravens back ahead with 2:54 on the clock.
Forbes answered with a jumper to pull the Falcons within a point, then drained two free-throws to give them the lead for good (66-65) with 1:55 left. Lacasse scored a lay-up to put Bentley up three with 53-seconds left and two Forbes free-throws gave the visitors a five-point lead with 25-seconds to play.
Johnson hit a jumper with 15-seconds to play to bring the Ravens back within three and freshman Nate Fritsch (Durham, N.C./Woodberry Forest) missed two free-throws to give Franklin Pierce one last chance to force overtime. However, three's from Johnson and Powell in the closing seconds were just off the mark.
Franklin Pierce missed on five straight possessions (one turnover) prior to Johnson's last jumper with 15-seconds left. Bentley was 0-10 from three-point range in the second half, while the Ravens hit 8-18 (44.4%), including five during an eight-minute stretch during their comeback. Franklin Pierce also enjoyed a 41-33 advantage on the glass, which resulted in a 16-9 advantage in second-chance points.
Franklin Pierce (8-15, 6-12 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it visits Stonehill College at 3:30 p.m. Bentley (24-2, 18-0 NE-10) visits Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.