Matt Barboza goes for seven points and five rebounds to help spark Ravens to victory

RINDGE, N.H. (January 17, 2012) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team made it two wins in a row Tuesday night with a convincing 76-48 win over Assumption at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 12-4 overall and 8-4 in the Northeast-10, while Assumption dipped to 7-9 and 5-7 in league play.

Sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) tossed in a game-high tying 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, while also grabbing seven rebounds, swiping six steals and dishing out three assists.

Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) also had a strong game for the Ravens as he scored 14 points (5-of-10 shooting) and pulled down four rebounds.

Kevin Donahue paced Assumption with 18 points, while also taking away three steals.

Franklin Pierce stumbled coming out of the gates and found itself trailing 14-13 eight minutes in after Donahue knocked down the second of his four three-pointers on the evening.

Vilmont, though answered with a deep triple at the other end, which sparked a 17-2 run by the Ravens over an eight-minute span to grab a commanding 30-16 advantage. Sophomore forward Matt Barboza (East Providence, R.I.) had four points during the surge, including knocking down a trey. Cooper capped the run with a pair of free throws.

The Ravens closed out the half by scoring six-straight points, including a jumper from Cooper, to take a 38-20 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Franklin Pierce forced Assumption into 14 first half turnovers and converted 19 points off of the Greyhound miscues. Cooper dumped in 10 points during the opening 20 minutes.

The Ravens came out firing, again, during the opening three minutes of the second half and scored seven of the first nine points to take a 45-22 lead. Vilmont dropped in a three-pointer to begin the run and Cooper capped it with a steal and coast-to-coast monster dunk which brought the crowd to its feet with an awesome roar.

Assumption tried to claw its way back and trimmed the deficit to 16 at 51-35 with 12:16 remaining after Cory Schmidt drained a jumper.

Franklin Pierce quickly countered and over the next four minutes pushed its lead back out to 24 at 61-37 when sophomore guard Andre Blackwood (Paterson, N.J.) hit a driving layup along the baseline. That run capped any hopes of an Assumption comeback as Franklin Pierce led by as many as 30 points late in sealing the victory.

The win ran Franklin Pierce's record in The Fieldhouse this season to 5-1, with all five victories coming by double-digit margins.

The Ravens owned a 34-27 advantage on the glass, including getting at least one rebound from 11 of the 12 players that saw game action. Seven of those 11 logged multiple rebounds, including Barboza, who had five boards. That rebounding edge led to Franklin Pierce producing a 13-4 advantage in second chance points.

Franklin Pierce shot 48 percent (27-of-56) from the floor, including going an impressive 42 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc. The Ravens limited the Greyhounds to just 24 percent shooting (5-of-21) from three-point range.

The Ravens return to action Saturday when they travel to New York to face the Pace Setters 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 visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).