Nigel Van Oostrum goes 6-of-6 from three-point range to lead Ravens offensively

RINDGE, N.H. (November 22, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team used a strong offensive surge to open the second half as it keyed the Ravens to an important 57-47 win over Stonehill on Tuesday night at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens improved to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Skyhawks dipped to 2-1 and 1-1 in league play.

The win also snapped Franklin Pierce's five-game losing streak to Stonehill, as the Ravens had battled the Skyhawks close in the previous meetings, but could not come up with a play late in the game to grab a win.

Tuesday night, though, was a different story for the Ravens as they came out of the locker room and were on fire to begin the second half.

Franklin Pierce scored the first 13 points of the frame to turn a 19-19 tie into a 32-19 advantage with 16:43 left in the game. Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) kick-started the run with a layup and senior backcourt-mate Nigel Van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) followed with back-to-back treys. Sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) laid in a basket on the next possession and Jean-Guillaume capped the surge with a deep three-pointer from the right wing.

Van Oostrum and Jean-Guillaume were the offensive catalysts for Franklin Pierce on the evening as they dropped in 20 and 17 points, respectively. Van Oostrum was 6-for-6 from three-point range and was 7-of-9 overall from the floor. Jean-Guillaume had a terrific all-around game with six rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks. Cooper also turned in a well-rounded game with nine points, seven boards, five helpers and three thefts. Not to be left out was senior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.), who ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Following the early second half surge, Franklin Pierce continued to add to its lead and pushed it out to 15 at 39-24 with 13:17 remaining following an Igor Lebov (Toronto, Ont.) jumper.

Stonehill, though, didn't fold and went on a 10-1 run over the next six minutes to pull within six at 40-34. Sam Markle knocked down a triple and Adam Fazzini laid in a basket to cap the surge which all of a sudden had the Skyhawks believing they could pull off the comeback.

The Ravens now the chance to counter and they did just that by scoring the next five points to go back up by double-digits at 45-34 with 6:05 left. Van Oostrum sparked the mini-rally with a three-pointer and Cooper capped it with a layup.

The teams traded baskets over the remaining minutes of the game, and Stonehill did pull to within five at 51-46, but Franklin Pierce made its free throws down the stretch to seal the win and run their overall winning streak to three games.

Patrick Lee and Andre Tongo paced Stonehill offensively with 11 points each. Stonehill struggled shooting the ball all night as the Skyhawks managed just a 29 percent clip (16-of-54) from the field.

Franklin Pierce struggled on the offensive end throughout the first half and shot just 24 percent (7-of-29) from the floor. But the Ravens rebounded with a much stronger 62 percent effort (13-of-21) in the second 20 minutes. For the game, Franklin Pierce shot 40 percent (20-of-50) from the floor.

The first half was tightly contested, but it appeared that Stonehill was pulling away late in the frame when Tongo drained a three to give the Skyhawks a 17-11 edge. Franklin Pierce rallied and went on an 8-2 run to close out the half, aided by another deep three from Van Oostrum, to knot the score at 19-19 going into halftime.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday when the Ravens travel to Colchester, Vt., to face Saint Michael's 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).