Freshman guard Eric Jean-Guillaume pumps in 22 points to pace the Ravens; Ravens off to best start in 17 seasons

BOXSCORE

ROCKVILLE CENTER, N.Y. (November 21, 2009) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team downed Molloy College, 86-67, on Saturday night during the final day of action in the Molloy Lions Classic in Rockville Center, N.Y. With the win, Franklin Pierce ran its record to 4-0 on the season, marking the best start for the program in 17 seasons. Molloy dipped to 1-2 on the year.

The last time the Ravens started out this strong was the 1992-93 season when they began 7-0 on the way to a 22-8 record and an eventual trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Freshman guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) pumped in a team-high 22 points and handed out five assists to lead the Ravens in the win, which was their fifth in the last six games dating back to the end of last season. Senior forward Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y.) followed with 20 points while ripping down eight rebounds. He has scored 20 points or more in three of the first four games this season.

Junior guards Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass.) and Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine) were the other two double-digit scorers for Franklin Pierce with 18 and 14, respectively. Dozier also grabbed six boards and Manchester collected five of his own.

Carl Palmer netted a game-high 26 points for the Lions in the setback.

Franklin Pierce led the entire contest on the way to the 19-point win, which was its largest margin of victory this season. The Ravens scored the initial four points of the contest on a pair of layups by Ray.

Ray converted a three-point play at the 11-minute mark of the first half on a layup and free throw, which gave the Ravens their first double-digit lead of the contest at 21-10. Jean-Guillaume knocked down a three-pointer two minutes later to push the Ravens lead out to 12 at 35-23.

Frankin Pierce led by as many as 19 points in the first half and took a 46-32 lead into the locker room at halftime. Dozier, Manchester and Ray each tossed in 11 points in the opening 20 minutes, while Jean-Guillaume netted 10. The Ravens shot 57 percent (16-of-28) from the field in the first half.

The Lions tried to fight back in the second half and cut the deficit to seven on multiple occasions, including making it 67-60 with 6:50 to go.

However, Ray and Jean-Guillaume each laid in a basket on back-to-back possessions to extend the Ravens lead back to double-digits and end any threat by Molloy. Jean-Guillaume hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to set the final margin.

Franklin Pierce returns to action on Tuesday night when it travels to face Saint Michael’s for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff. It marks the 2009-10 Northeast-10 Conference opener for the Ravens. Fans can follow the game through live stats on both the Franklin Pierce and Northeast-10 websites.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.)