Jean-Guillaume goes for 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor

BOXSCORE

RINDGE, N.H. (February 1, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team battled Stonehill tough, but came up just short in a heart-breaking 65-64 loss on Tuesday night at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens fell to 5-16 overall and 3-13 in the Northeast-10, while the Skyhawks improved to 17-4 and 12-4 in league play.

The final minutes of the game proved to be some of the most frantic in the recent history of Franklin Pierce men's basketball.

Franklin Pierce, which led by as many as 10 points midway through the second half, saw its lead shrink to two at 56-54 with 3:56 left to play after Stonehill's Mike Kernan made a three-point play on a layup and free throw.

Franklin Pierce sophomore guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), though, responded for the Ravens at the other end of the court as he bombed in a three-pointer from well beyond the arc while getting hit on the arm during the shot. The foul was called as the shot dropped in and Jean-Guillaume capped the four-point play with the ensuing free throw.

Jean-Guillaume had an incredible game as he dropped in a game-high 24 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor, including going 4-for-4 from three-point range.

Ivan Almeida converted a three-point play for Stonehill on the next possession to make it 60-57, and the teams would swap layups on the next two series to make it 62-59 with 1:09 remaining.

After Franklin Pierce failed to convert at the other end of the court, which would have made it a two possession game with :30 left, Kernan converted a layup with :13 left to pull Stonehill to within one at 62-61. Jean-Guillaume clipped Kernan on the layup, but the Stonehill guard could not hit the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play.

The missed foul shot did not rattle the Skyhawks as Almeida out-fought a pair of Ravens to grab the rebound and put back a layup to put Stonehill on top 63-62 with :10 remaining.

Jean-Guillaume brought the ball down the court and drove to the lane where he drew a foul while attempting a jumper in the paint with only :02.2 left. He calmly stroked both free throws to give the Ravens a 64-63 lead.

Stonehill tossed in its inbounds pass to Brian Hamor, who was fouled after he and Jean-Guillaume went for the pass. The whistle was called signaling a foul, which went against Jean-Guillaume, thus forcing him from the game with five fouls.

Hamor made both free throws in the final second to lift the Skyhawks to an improbable victory over the Ravens. Stonehill helped its cause at the comeback victory as the Skyhawks out-rebounded Franklin Pierce, 24-11, in the second half and held a 24-10 advantage in points in the paint.

Hamor ended the game with nine points, while Kernan and Almeida were the Skyhawks' two double-digit scorers with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

In addition to Jean-Guillaume's 24 points, senior guard Jeff Manchester (Gorham, Maine) tossed in 10 points, including going 2-for-4 from behind the arc. Eight of the nine Ravens that played in the game scored.

After Stonehill took a quick 2-0 lead, Franklin Pierce responded with seven-straight points and would not give up its advantage until the final minute of the game. Jean-Guillaume threw down an alley-oop dunk off a Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass.) pass to spark the run, and capped it with a three-point play.

The game remained close throughout the first half and the Ravens ultimately took a 34-30 advantage into the locker room at halftime as Dozier laid in a bucket to beat the buzzer.

Stonehill tried several times throughout the early going of the second half to take the lead, but every time the Skyhawks got close, the Ravens would answer with a basket, including triples from Jean-Guillaume, Manchester and sophomore guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England).

Franklin Pierce opened up its largest lead of the game at 51-41 with 10:33 remaining following a layup from freshman forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens). Stonehill would slowly chip away at the deficit before making the clutch plays down the stretch to pick up the come-from-behind victory.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to Manchester to face Southern New Hampshire at 3:30 p.m.

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 follow Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).