Penmen survive late Ravens rally as Bowen nets game-high 22 points

Boxscore 

MANCHESTER, N.H. (January 29, 2009) - Southern New Hampshire University held off a late Franklin Pierce University charge to post a 77-74 victory in a key Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball matchup at SNHU Fieldhouse tonight.

Senior guard Troy Bowen (Nashua, N.H./Nashua South) led four Southern New Hampshire players in double-figures with a game-high 22 points as he made 8-of-14 shots from the field, including 2-for-5 from three-point range, while converting all four free-throw attempts to go with three rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla./Bridgton Academy) didn't miss a shot in posting 16 points, shooting 5-for-5 from the field, including 4-4 from three-point range, and converting two free-throw attempts, to go with six rebounds and two steals. Classmate Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J./St. Thomas More) also netted 16 points in 19 minutes off the bench.

Senior Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon School) led a balanced Franklin Pierce effort with five players in double figures as he finished with 15 points, shooting 4-for-6 from the field and converting 7-of-9 free-throws, to go with seven rebounds. Sophomore Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine/Gorham) added 14 points, six rebounds (three offensive) and three assists, while classmate Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass./The Winchendon School) posted 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds (five offensive) and three assists. Juniors Marcus Wellman (Monroe, Conn./Hamden Hall) and Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) each chipped in ten points off the bench.

Southern New Hampshire finished shooting 50-percent (27-for-54) from the field, including 46.7% (7-15) from three-point range, after hitting 53.6% (15-28) in the first half. Franklin Pierce shot 44.6% (25-56) from the field, but just 9-for-25 (36%) from beyond the arc. SNHU posted a 36-30 rebounding advantage.

Franklin Pierce rallied from an 11-point deficit (62-51) midway through the second half to take a lead late, but could not hold on. Trailing by nine (70-61) with 7:10 to play, the Ravens closed within two points (70-68) after a free-throw by Wellman with 2:30 remaining. After a SNHU lay-up, Varanauskas converted a conventional three-point play to draw the Ravens within one (72-71) with 2:04 left.

Two more Varanauskas free-throws gave Franklin Pierce the lead (74-73) with 1:23 on the clock, but freshman Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md./St. Mary's) was fouled and made both free-throws to give SNHU back the lead with 27-seconds left. Dozier missed a tough jumper in the paint and Bowen was fouled and made both free-throws to put the Penmen back up three (77-74) with four ticks left. Dozier had one more look to force overtime, but his three was off the mark and a put back by Varanauskas was after the buzzer to end the game.

SNHU held a five-point halftime lead (41-36), but Dozier and junior Jack Barrett (Reading, Mass./Andover) opened the second half with three-pointers to give Franklin Pierce the lead (42-41) just over a minute into the game. The Ravens pushed their lead to four (47-43) after a lay-up from sophomore Mike Barrow (Mattapan, Mass./Hebron Academy) with 14:56 to play.

SNHU responded with a 19-4 run over the next five minutes to take its 11-point lead with 10:09 remainign. Bowen buried back-to-back three's and Vejraska hit one as well during that stretch.

Franklin Pierce (9-10, 6-8 NE-10) returns to action on Saturday when it visits Stonehill College, ranked No. 10 in this week's NABC Division II poll, in a makeup game from mid-December on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Ravens next home game is Wednesday, February 4, when they host Stonehill for the back end of the home-and-home series at 7:30 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on WEEI 93.5 Keene. Southern New Hampshire (10-9, 6-8 NE-10) visits the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday at 4 p.m.