Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont goes for career-high 20 points

MANCHESTER, N.H. (November 30, 2011) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team showed tremendous resiliency Wednesday in rallying from a double-digit deficit to claim a hard-fought 72-67 win at Southern New Hampshire in Manchester. The Ravens won their fifth straight overall and their third-straight Northeast-10 Conference game to improve to 7-1 and 3-1 in league play. SNHU dipped to 4-2 and 2-2 in league play.

Freshman forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) paced Franklin Pierce with a game and career-high 20 points, while ripping down five rebounds and swatting away three shots. Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) had another all-around strong game with 16 points, seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block, while senior forward Adedamola Abu (Mattapan, Mass.) logged his second-straight double-figure scoring game with 10 points while also collecting six rebounds.

Greg DeSantis and Aleksandar Dobrovic were the Penmen's two double-figure scorers with 17 and 15 points, respectively.

SNHU opened the game by scoring 10 of the first 14 points, aided by a three-pointer from DeSantis, and eventually built a 28-15 lead with 9:49 remaining in the first half.

Franklin Pierce did not fold and showed the character it has displayed in the early-going of this season and reeled off 14-consecutive points to take a 29-28 lead with 5:43 remaining until halftime. Vilmont sparked the surge with a layup and sophomore Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) threw down a slam dunk to aid in the momentum. Vilmont scored the final 10 points, including knocking down a pair of triples.

SNHU rallied to score the next seven points to grab a 35-29 lead, but the teams would settle into trading baskets over the final minutes of the half before Jean-Guillaume laid in a basket and Vilmont hit a last second free throw to pull the Ravens to within two at 38-36 heading into the locker room at halftime.

The opening minutes of the second half featured the same type of play with the score hovering between the 2-to-4 point mark for either side. DeSantis converted a layup with 6:46 remaining to knot the score at 56.

However, the Ravens countered by going on a quick 6-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back triples from Jean-Guillaume and Vilmont, to grab a 62-56 advantage with 5:52 to go.
Franklin Pierce slowly continued to add to its lead and held a 68-59 edge with 2:19 left following a three-pointer and free throw from Jean-Guillaume. SNHU was forced to rush shots and play the foul game in the closing minutes to try and keep its hopes alive for the victory.

The Penmen were able to cut it to three in the final seconds, but the Ravens made their free throws late to seal the win.

The Ravens continued to take great care of the basketball, turning it over only 11 times, while forcing 14 from SNHU, including swiping seven steals. Franklin Pierce shot 43 percent from behind the arc, while holding the Penmen to just 32 percent shooting from three-point range.

Sophomore forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) came off the bench to chip in with eight points, and classmate Curtis Christian (Harlem, N.Y.) netted seven points and collected four rebounds.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday night when the Ravens play host to Saint Anselm at 7:30 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).