Five Ravens scored in double-figures in the tough setback

BOXSCORE

ALBANY, N.Y. (January 8, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team dropped a 99-94 overtime thriller to Saint Rose on Saturday at Nolan Gymnasium in Albany, N.Y. The Ravens dipped to 4-10 overall and 2-7 in the Northeast-10, while the Golden Knights improved to 10-4 and 5-4 in league play.

Five Ravens scored in double-figures, including sophomore guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who pumped in a team-high 19 points coming off the bench. Two of Jean-Guillaume's points came in the final 90 seconds as he knocked down a jumper to knot the score at 85 and send the game into overtime.

Senior guard Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine) followed with 17 points, including scoring the first seven points for the Ravens in the extra session to keep them in the mix for the win. Manchester knocked down a pair of triples in the overtime and his second one with 2:44 remaining gave Franklin Pierce a slim 92-90 advantage.

It was Saint Rose's turn to respond and the Golden Knights did so by scoring four-straight points, including a pair of free throws and a jumper from Brian Hanushack. Hanushack had a solid all-around game for the Golden Knights as he had nine points, eight rebounds, one steal and a block.

Jean-Guillaume answered at the other end of the court with a driving layup to knot the score at 94 with :48 to go. But Shea Bromirski came up with the final heroic play of the game as he swished a trey for Saint Rose with :18 left to put the Golden Knights up 97-94. Franklin Pierce could not get the equalizing basket in the final seconds and Devin Grimes sealed the win for the Golden Knights with a pair of free throws in the final second.

Bromirski's game-winning three was part of his game-high 23 points. He was one of three Golden Knights to score in double-figures with the other two performances coming from Andre Pope (22 points) and Rob Gutierrez (19 points).

The five-minute overtime was a microcosm of the 40 minutes of regulation, which saw 15 ties and 20 lead changes. The largest lead of the game was Saint Rose's six-point advantage at 70-64 with 10:41 to go, but Franklin Pierce shrugged off the deficit and got a pair of baskets from freshman forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) and a layup from sophomore guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) to tie it up at 70 moments later. Van Oostrum had 11 points in the game.

Both teams would exchange baskets the rest of regulation to send the game into overtime. Franklin Pierce held a commanding 22-13 advantage in rebounding during the second 20 minutes, while both teams shot over 50 percent from the field.

Franklin Pierce shot 49 percent from the field for the game (34-of-69) and got 16 points from senior guard Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass.), who also dished out seven assists. Junior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) was the Ravens' other double-digit scorer with 10 points.

The Ravens held a pair of five-point leads (their largest of the game) throughout the first half, but could not hold onto the early advantages as the game was tied 46-46 at halftime. Dozier had 11 of his 16 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Franklin Pierce returns home Tuesday night when the Ravens play host to New Haven at 7:30 p.m. at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's basketball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).