Franklin Pierce Cruises at UMass Lowell, 74-51
Munch and Minnifield lead the way as Ravens erase back-to-back losses
LOWELL, Mass. (February 3, 2007) - Franklin Pierce hit 52.9-percent of its shots from the field in posting a comfortable 74-51 victory over the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at Costello Gymnasium this afternoon.
Sophomore Timothy Munch (Blauvelt, N.Y./Storm King Prep) led all scorers with 18 points to go with three steals and two rebounds. Senior Darryl Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) totaled 16 points, on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, three rebounds and three assists, while classmate Nazim Senaldi (Istanbul, Turkey) collected 12 points, on 4-6 shooting, and four rebounds in 20 minutes off the bench. Sophomore Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania) chipped in a season-high seven points, a career-best eight rebounds and two blocked shots.
Freshman Kevin Carr (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) was the lone UMass Lowell player in double-figures with 16 points, hitting 5-of-10 shots from the field, including 4-7 from three-point range, four assists and three steals in 25-minutes off the bench. Junior Jerreh Saidybah (Montreal, Quebec/Vanier College) added nine points (3-3 FG's, 3-3 FT's) and five rebounds.
Franklin Pierce connected on 52.9-percent (27-of-51) of its shots from the field, including 12-of-21 (57.1%) in the opening half, and buried 11-of-22 (50%) three-pointers while converting 9-11 (81.8%) of its free-throws on the day. Conversely, UMass Lowell shot just 32.1% (18-56) from the field, including 10-26 (38.5%) from three-point range, and converted only 5-10 (50%) free throws. The Ravens also posted a 19-9 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
UMass Lowell scored the first basket of the contest, a three-pointer from freshman Craig Heatherly (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka) 20-seconds in, but Franklin Pierce scored the next ten points, capped by back-to-back three's from Munch and sophomore Jack Barrett (Reading, Mass./Andover), and went on to build a 14-point lead (37-23) by halftime.
The Ravens opened the second half with a 14-4 run to run their lead to 24-points (51-27) after back-to-back baskets from Munch. Minnifield also sparked the run with eight points, including a pair of three's. The River Hawks managed to close within 20 points one more time (53-34) after a Mike Watson (Bronx, N.Y./SUNY-Delhi) three with 11-minutes left, but Franklin Pierce would extend its lead to a game-high 26 points shortly after.
Franklin Pierce (11-11, 9-9 NE-10) is back in action on Tuesday when it visits Bryant University at 7:30 p.m. UMass Lowell (7-16, 4-14 NE-10) hosts Stonehill College on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.