Munch nets 1,000th career point, but Ravens postseason hopes dashed

Boxscore

RINDGE, N.H. (February 23, 2008) - Saint Anselm College ended Franklin Pierce's postseason hopes with a 76-72 victory in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Fieldhouse this afternoon.

The loss officially ends Franklin Pierce's chances of a 32^nd-straight postseason appearance as they remain two games behind American International College (7-14) for the final NE-10 Tournament spot with just one game to play. The two teams will close out the regular season against each other on Tuesday in Springfield. The win moves Saint Anselm into ninth place in the NE-10 standings.

Sophomore Branimir Zeko (Mississauga, Ontario/University of New Hampshire) led Saint Anselm with a double-double effort of 18 points and 13 rebounds, as he hit 5-of-10 shots from the field and eight of his ten free-throw attempts. Senior Chris Vetrano (Andover, Mass./University of New Hampshire) had 16 points (all second half), and added a game-high five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Freshmen Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn./Taft) and John Tello (Ridgefield Park, N.J./Ridgefield Park) also reached double figures, as Baudinet scored 15 with four rebounds and two assists, while Tello had 14 points with four boards.

Franklin Pierce placed five players in double-figures in the loss, led by 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting from freshman Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass./The Winchendon School), to go with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Junior Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon School) and sophomore Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) scored 14 and 12 points, respectively. 

Junior Timothy Munch (Blauvelt, N.Y./Storm King Prep) netted ten points (all second half) for the Ravens, to become the 27^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career. His lay-up with 51-seconds remaining brought the Ravens within four of Saint Anselm (73-69), and putting him over the milestone with 1,001 in 78 career games. Freshman Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) chipped in 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Saint Anselm shot 46-percent (27-for-59) on the day, including 53% (16-for-30) in the decisive second half. Franklin Pierce hit just under 43-percent (27-for-63) of its shots overall, including 16-of-38 (42%) in the final 20 minutes. The game featured 12 ties and 11 lead changes.

After an evenly played first half, Saint Anselm scored 14 of the first 22 points of the second to turn a 32-31 halftime deficit into a 45-40 lead with 5:24 gone in the stanza. Franklin Pierce came back with a run of its own, as the Ravens scored ten consecutive points over a 1:50 span to take a 54-49 lead - their largest lead of the afternoon with 10:35 remaining. Ray led the charge with five points in that span, capping the run with a conventional three-point play.

Saint Anselm responded swiftly, outscoring the Ravens 17-2 over the next 4:08 to take the largest lead of the game by either team (66-56) with 5:43 left. Tello scored the team's first five points of the run and finished with seven in all, while Vetrano completed the run with six points on a lay-up and four free throws.

Franklin Pierce got as close as four points with 51-seconds remaining on Munch's milestone points off a rebound of a Ray free throw attempt, but Vetrano ran the shot clock down before driving to the hoop for a score with 22-seconds left that sealed the win.

Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the opening half, as the biggest lead gained by either team was a four-point edge for Franklin Pierce with 8:06 to go in the half. The opening 20 minutes of play featured nine ties and eight lead changes, as both teams hit 11 field goals to keep the game close.

Franklin Pierce (9-17, 5-16 NE-10) closes out the season on Tuesday at American International College at 7:30 p.m. Saint Anselm (12-13, 10-11 NE-10) hosts Stonehill College on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.