Young leads Penmen with 26 points; Sully nets 22 for Ravens

RINDGE, N.H. (February 19, 2005) - Southern New Hampshire University rallied from an early deficit and expanded on a two-point halftime lead to post a 71-60 victory over Franklin Pierce in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this afternoon.

The loss locks Franklin Pierce (9-17, 7-14 NE-10) into 11^th-place for the upcoming Northeast-10 Tournament, which will tip-off with first round action next Saturday. The Ravens opponent is yet to be determined with one Conference date remaining. Southern New Hampshire (20-6, 16-6 NE-10) moves into third place with the win, which concludes its NE-10 slate. The Penmen will await the outcome of the final games for Saint Anselm, Saint Rose and Stonehill over the next three days.

Junior P.J. Young (Boston, Mass./Manchester (N.H.) Central) led SNHU with a game-high 26 points as he connected on 10-of-12 shots from the field and converted all six free-throw attempts, to go with five rebounds. Classmate Miguel Gonzalez (Jamaica, N.Y./Holy Cross) registered 14 points (all second half), six rebounds, three assists and four steals. Freshman Sam Carey (Manchester, N.H./Central) added 12 points, four boards, three steals and two assists, while junior John Baiano (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) chipped in eight assists and four steals.            

Junior Pierre Sully (Jamaica Plain, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic) led Franklin Pierce with 22 points (16 first half) as he hit 8-of-13 from the field, including 2-3 from three-point range, to go with five rebounds. Classmate Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline) added 16 points and 11 rebounds (six offensive) for his first career double double. Sophomore Darryl Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) chipped in eight points, five boards, two assists and two steals.

The Ravens seized the early momentum in the game, staking out a 15-6 lead after a Sully three 7:37 into the contest. Sully scored 14 of the Ravens first 18 points in the contest overall.

Southern New Hampshire used a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game (16-15) after a Carey lay-up off a steal with 8:09 to play in the stanza. Franklin Pierce regained a four-point edge (25-21) after two-straight baskets from Powell with 5:33 left. The Penmen closed out the half with an 8-2 run, in which neither team scored over the final 1:29 of the half, to take a two-point (29-27) lead into the locker room.

Franklin Pierce regained the lead (35-34) after a Minnifield lay-up with 15:26 to play, but SNHU used a 7-2 run to open a seven-point advantage (44-37) with 12:32 left in regulation.

A J.J. Harvey (Albany, N.Y./Siena College) dunk off a steal gave the Penmen an eight-point lead (48-40) with 9:45 to play, but more importantly stopped play for 37-minutes because of a broken rim. The Ravens emerged from the break a little flat and SNHU scored the first five points to open a 13-point lead (53-40) with 8:41 to play.

The lead was still 13 (60-47) after a Gonzalez jumper with 5:37 left. The Ravens closed to within eight (66-58) after sophomore Nazim Senaldi (Istanbul, Turkey) scored a floater with 1:35 on the clock, but that was as close as they would get as the Penmen hit five of their next six free-throws and the Ravens missed their final six shots from the field to seal the win.

Franklin Pierce (9-17, 7-14 NE-10) rounds out the regular season on Monday at UMass Lowell at 7:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (20-6, 16-6 NE-10) rounds out the regular season with a non-conference game with Post University on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

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