Cooper tied for the league lead with two player-of-the-week awards

RINDGE, N.H. (February 20, 2012) -- Franklin Pierce sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) was named the Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday, marking the second time this season he earned the award. Cooper, who also earned the honor back on Jan. 23, is tied for the league lead for the most player-of-the-week awards this year.

Cooper had a monster week for the Ravens as he averaged 20.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 steals in a pair of victories over Bentley (78-58) on Tuesday and UMass-Lowell (74-71) on Saturday.

In Tuesday's win over Bentley, Cooper tossed in 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds to spark the Ravens to their second win in the Dana Center over the last three years. He followed that up with an even stronger performance on Saturday versus Lowell as he netted 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting and nine boards. Cooper ultimately lifted the Ravens to victory as he drained the game-winning three-pointer with just :00.8 left on the clock to break a 71-all tie.

Cooper has started all 25 games this season and is averaging a team-best 14.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. He ranks ninth in the NE-10 in scoring and 12th in rebounding. Cooper is shooting 53 percent from the field this year, which is the ninth highest average in the conference. He has been one of the most intense defenders in the conference as he leads the NE-10 with 62 steals and ranks 12th with 19 blocks. 

Franklin Pierce concludes its 2011-12 regular season on Tuesday night when the Ravens play host to Merrimack at 7:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The game will feature two of the top teams in the region as Franklin Pierce ranks No. 1 in the latest NCAA East Region Poll and Merrimack is ninth. A Franklin Pierce win, coupled with an Adelphi loss, would give the Ravens the NE-10 regular season championship and homecourt advantage throughout the upcoming conference tournament.

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).