Balanced Effort Leads to Men’s Hoops 86-78 Home Opener Win

RINDGE, N.H. (November 26, 2019) – Four Franklin Pierce University men's basketball players scored in double-figures as the Ravens endured a first-half rally and double-digit lead by Northeast-10 Conference opponent Assumption College to earn a hard-fought 86-78 victory Tuesday evening in their home opener at The Fieldhouse. With the victory, the crimson and grey move to 3-2, 1-1 NE10 while the Greyhounds drop to 4-2, 1-1 NE10.

Senior guard Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.) had his second 20-point effort of the season leading all players with 20 markers. The team captain shot 8-of-14 (57.1%) from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1%) from deep. He scored 10 points in the first half, 10 in the second and was a game-high +15 when he was on the court.

Reigning NE10 Player of the Week, Doyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) was one rebound shy of a double-double with 19 points, nine boards, five assists, two steals, and a block. Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, Md.) dropped in 17 points of his own with eight rebounds, and a contest-high six assists. Freshman Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) scored a career-high 13 points in only 18 minutes of play going 5-of-7 (71.4%) from the hardwood with two caroms and one assist. Bresnan scored nine of his 13 points in the second half and he was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.

Assumption also had four double-digit scorers including guard Matthew Kelly who paced his team with 18 points, five three-pointers, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Malik Brown double-doubled with 14 points and 10 caroms – five offensive.

FPU capitalized off the Hounds miscues as they scored 18 points off their 15 mistakes. They also sank 14 three-balls, a season-high, and out-produced Assumption 43.8%-to-29.0% from three-point land.

Pierce started off fast on a 12-2 run to open up a 10 point lead 2:15 into the duel. Seck knocked down a three and Moore capitalized off a Fadojutimi steal for the games first points. Moore then followed his own missed shot to put his squad in the driver's seat. Seven straight from the Hounds capped off by a Cal Connelly pass to Branislav Vujadinovic on the left corner made it a one-possession game, 12-9.

A freshman forward Antonio Chandler (Piscataway, N.J.) left-wing triple regained the six-point edge for Pierce, 17-11. With the crimson and grey holding a six-point, 22-16 margin, Assumption promptly went on a 23-5 scoring binge to move ahead by double-digits 39-27 with 6:51 left before the intermission. Their run spanned about seven minutes and they used a three-point barrage for their largest lead of the game.

However, FPU battled back over the final 2:51 using a Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.) three-ball, a Matt Hofrenning (Minneapolis, Minn.) offensive rebound score and a Seck take to the rack to tie the game at 45 all with 33 ticks on the clock. Assumption would get two points back to lead 47-45 at the break.

Cal Connelly drove the baseline for a two-handed jam four minutes into the new stanza to give the Hounds their biggest lead of the second half. From there it was all Ravens. The hosts exploded for a 19-7 binge with Bresnan being the catalyst answering a Kelly three with one of his own and following that up with a driving layup on the low block making it a 69-61 game with 11:12 to play. Another Kelly three brought the Raven advantage down to four, 73-69 with 8:30 to play, but five points from Seck opened up an 11 point lead for the Ravens, 80-69 as they would close out the game across the final four minutes.

The Ravens head into Thanksgiving break and will hit the court next Wednesday, December 4th on the road at Stonehill College (3-4, 1-2 NE 10) for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://www.fpuravens.com). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens ), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (https://shopfpuravens.com). You can also follow the men's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensMBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpuravensmbb/).