Ravens never trail, shooting 47.3%, in posting second-straight win

Boxscore 

RINDGE, N.H. (January 8, 2009) - Franklin Pierce University picked up its second-straight win with an 80-61 victory over Pace University in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at the Fieldhouse tonight.

Senior forward Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon (Mass.) School) and sophomore Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) combined for 44 points to lead four Franklin Pierce players in double-figures. Manchester netted 17 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, finishing 8-for-15 from the field, including 6-of-12 from three-point range, to go with five rebounds and three assists. Varanauskas notched his fifth double-double of the season (seventh career) with 20 points and a game-high 13 rebounds (four offensive) to go with four assists and a career-best six blocked shots. He made 7-of-15 shots from the field, including 2-of-4 three's, on the night.

Sophomore Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass./The Winchendon School) added 14 points, nine rebounds, two assists and three steals, while junior Marcus Wellman (Monroe, Conn./Hamden Hall) chipped in 11 points, aided by 8-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line, four rebounds and three assists.

Junior Laurence McGhee (Linden, N.J./Linden) led Pace with 15 points, six rebounds (three offensive), four assists, three steals and a blocked shot. Freshman Delroy Daley (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond) added 13 points, nine rebounds (five offensive) and two steals, while classmate Ryan Woods (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) chipped in eight points and five rebounds.

Franklin Pierce finished shooting 47.3-percent (26-for-55) from the field, including 42.9% (12-28) from three-point range, collecting assists on 22 of its 26 field goals for the night. The Ravens built a 12-point (44-32) halftime lead behind a 51.6% (16-31) shooting effort in the first half, draining 7-of-14 three-pointers. Franklin Pierce posted a 25-22 advantage in points off turnovers, despite committing seven more turnovers than Pace (21-14).

Pace shot 31.8-percent (21-66) for the night, including just 4-of-17 (23.5%) from beyond the arc. The Setters followed a 35.4% (11-32) first half shooting performance with 29.4% (10-34) shooting over the final 20 minutes, hitting just 1-of-10 (10%) three's.

Franklin Pierce never trailed in the contest, jumping out to a 13-2 lead just 5:44 into the game. Manchester contributed six points to the opening salvo on a pair of three-pointers while Dozier chipped in five points. The Ravens would push the first-half lead as high as 14 points (22-8) on a Manchester jump shot just past the midway point of the stanza. Pace closed the lead to four points (26-22) with a 14-4 run, capped by a Woods three, but Franklin Pierce responded with a surge of its own to take a 44-32 lead into halftime.

Leading by 12 (56-44) with 9:10 to play, Franklin Pierce embarked on a 10-3 spurt to put the game out of reach. Senior guard Craig Shepherd (Grantham, N.H./Trinity) opened the run with a jumper and three-pointer, while Manchester added the exclamation point with a three of his own and a pair of free throws. Pace would close to within 13 points twice, but Franklin Pierce connected on seven consecutive free throws down the stretch to ice the 19-point victory.

Franklin Pierce (6-6, 3-4 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it hosts Southern Connecticut State University at 3:30 p.m. Pace (6-7, 4-4 NE-10) hosts the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.