Eric Jean-Guillaume scored 12 of his 15 points in the second half to try and grab the win for the Ravens

WEST HAVEN, Conn. (January 11, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team dropped a wild 65-62 decision to New Haven on Wednesday night at Charger Gymnasium in West Haven, Conn. The Ravens lost their second straight to fall to 10-4 overall and 6-4 in the Northeast-10, while UNH improved to 11-3 and 7-3 in league play.

Sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) led all Franklin Pierce scorers with 19 points, while freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed with 16. Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) chipped in with 15 points and senior center Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) notched 11 rebounds.

Three Chargers scored in double-figures led by Jeffery Adkins 18 points. Justin Exum netted 13 points and Jeremy Williams dropped in 10 of his own.

The second half proved to be a wild affair as each side held a large lead before the final frantic minutes which saw both teams hit big shots to keep the game competitive.

The Ravens held an 11-point advantage early in the stanza at 35-24, thanks in part to a pair of Vilmont free throws. However, New Haven countered by scoring 14 of the next 16 points to go on top at 38-37 with 13:08 remaining. Adkins rained in a pair of three-pointers and laid in an easy basket to spark the run and Samir McDaniels capped with a driving layup.

The Chargers would slowly add to their advantage over the next several minutes, eventually going up by eight at 52-44 with 7:50 left.

Franklin Pierce didn't fold and got a triple from Vilmont and a pair of free throws from Jean-Guillaume on back-to-back possessions to pull within three at 52-49 and make it a one-possession game.

Eric Anderson threw down a jam minutes later to extend UNH's lead out to 57-51, but again, Franklin Pierce rallied to stay in the game. Jean-Guillaume and Vilmont once again were the catalysts on this mini-run with the former converting two more foul shots and the latter draining another trey to pull the Ravens to within one at 57-56 with 1:48 left.

New Haven converted a couple baskets over the next minute to go up by five (61-56), but Jean-Guillaume pulled the Ravens to within two at the other end with a deep triple of his own. Jean-Guillaume rained in another three with :10 left to pull the Ravens within one at 63-62, but that would be the last surge for Franklin Pierce as Adkins knocked down a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the win for the Chargers.

Jean-Guillaume had 12 of his points in the second 20 minutes, including going 6-of-6 from the foul line. 

New Haven was able to rally for the victory in the second half, thanks to its solid 46 percent shooting (13-of-28) from the floor in the stanza. Franklin Pierce, though, struggled on the offensive end and shot just 27 percent (6-of-22), thus failing to capitalize on its 11-point advantage early in the frame.

Franklin Pierce did hold a 35-34 advantage on the glass for the game. In addition to Abu's 11 boards, Vilmont and Cooper added six and five, respectively.

The Ravens used a 14-0 run on the strength of five points from Cooper early in the first half to build a 17-7 lead. Senior guard Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England), Vilmont and Jean-Guillaume each rained in a triple to add to the run.

Franklin Pierce kept its lead out in double-figures for most of the remainder of the stanza in building a 33-22 advantage at halftime. 

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Adelphi at 3:30 p.m. in 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).