Ravens clinch 28th-straight postseason berth; Johnson nets season-high 29 points

RINDGE, N.H. (February 16, 2005) - Franklin Pierce clinched a postseason berth for the 28^th-straight season with an 82-73 victory over Merrimack College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse tonight.

Freshman swingman Mitchell Johnson (Nassau, Bahamas/Cushing Academy) led the Ravens into the postseason with a season-high 29 points (21 second half) as he canned eight three-pointers (on 13 attempts) to finish one shy of the program record of nine set by his cousin, Shanendon Cartwright, against the University of Bridgeport on January 25, 1997.

Johnson drained all seven three-point attempts in the second half as the Ravens scorched the nets from beyond the arc in the stanza, hitting 8-of-9, and shot 68.2-percent (15-22) from the field over the final 20 minutes. Johnson also added a game-high matching seven rebounds, three assists and four steals on the night.            

Sophomore Darryl Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) helped lead Franklin Pierce with 16 points (14 second half), aided by 9-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line, six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Junior Pierre Sully (Jamaica Plain, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic) registered 13 points and three boards, while classmate Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) finished with 11 points and seven rebounds (four offensive).

Junior Bobby Murgo (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) led Merrimack with 17 points, as he hit 4-of-8 from three-point range, and four rebounds. Sophomore Kenny Jones (Norwich, Conn./Norwich Free) totaled 14 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Micky Burtnyk (Phoenix, Ariz./Mesa CC) registered ten points, four assists and three steals.

Franklin Pierce roared out to a 17-5 lead ten minutes into the contest, but were unable to take advantage of 17 Merrimack turnovers in the first half as the Ravens shot just 32.5% (13-40) from the field, including 2-15 (13.3%) from long-distance.

Trailing by 14 (30-16) with 5:13 left in the first half, Merrimack closed out the stanza with a 14-4 run cut its deficit to four points (34-30) when junior Bruno Zanotti (Asuncion, Paraguay) scored a lay-up at the buzzer.            

Franklin Pierce quickly regained a double-digit lead (40-30) with two Johnson three's in the first 1:40 of the second half, but Merrimack forced the game's first tie (42-42) with 14:01 to play after a 12-2 run, capped by a lay-up and three from senior Basil Wajd (Boston, Mass./Charlestown).

The Warriors took their first and only lead (43-42) of the game a minute and a half later when senior Pierre Downing (Trenton, N.J./Princeton Day) hit his second of two free-throw attempts. However, Franklin Pierce quickly regained the lead with a Minnifield three, then after a Zanotti dunk knotted the score at 45-45, Johnson put the Ravens up for good with a three with 12:10 to play.

Franklin Pierce worked its lead back up to 11 (66-55) after a Johnson three with 5:21 to play, but Merrimack refused to go away and trimmed its deficit to four (70-66) after two Jones free-throws with 2:39 left.

Johnson quickly drained his sixth and seventh three's of the half to put the Ravens back up ten (76-66) with 1:41 to play and Franklin Pierce canned 8-of-10 free-throws in the final minute to seal the victory. 

Franklin Pierce (9-16, 7-13 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it hosts in-state rivals Southern New Hampshire University in its final home game of the season at 3:30 p.m. Merrimack (12-13, 8-12 NE-10) hosts Assumption College on Saturday at 3 p.m.

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