Game to be held on Friday, March 28 in Evansville, Ind.

RINDGE, N.H. (March 21, 2014) – Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball senior standout Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) has been invited and will compete in the 2014 Reese’s Division II College All-Star Game, presented by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). The contest will be held next Friday, March 28 at 7 p.m. in the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind., which is serving as the host site for the 2014 NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Elite Eight. The contest will be on Friday, which is the day in between the national semifinals and finals.

Friday’s all-star game invitation marked the fourth prestigious award for Cooper over the past eight days, including earning NABC All-East Region First-Team honors, being named to the NCAA Division II East Regional All-Tournament Team, and receiving Daktronics Second-Team All-East Region honors.

Cooper averaged 19.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this season, despite missing close to two weeks with an injury. He ranks fifth in the Northeast-10 Conference in scoring, while also ranking sixth in rebounding. He shot 56 percent from the field, which is the third highest average in the league. Cooper was named to the All-NE-10 First-Team following the regular season for his impressive play.

He scored in double-figures in all but one game this season, including 12 games with at least 20 points. Cooper also recorded eight double-doubles on the year. After missing a two-week span over late-January and early-February with an injury, Cooper came back with a vengeance by scoring 20 points or more in four-straight games, including a double-double of 25 points and 12 rebounds in his first game back in a 76-75 win over Southern New Hampshire on Feb. 11.

Cooper is coming off a spectacular two-game performance in last weekend’s NCAA East Regional Tournament, as he averaged 27.0 points and 11.5 rebounds in the two games, including a 30-point, 16-rebound performance in a narrow second round loss to top-seeded Southern Connecticut State.

Despite the setback, the performance was a fitting end to Cooper’s amazing collegiate career, which saw him earn a pair of First-Team All-NE-10 honors (2012 & 2014), while also being recognized by the NABC on its East Region team each of the last three seasons. He finished his career with 1,503 points, which is the 10^th best scoring mark in program history.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at http://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/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men’s basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)