RINDGE, N.H. (February 19, 2020) – The newly minted no. 5 regionally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball team rallied from a 10 point deficit late in the second half as they stunned no. 9 regionally-ranked and Northeast-10 Conference opponent Franklin Pierce University 68-64 during Senior Night at The Fieldhouse. The win, the sixth in a row for the Hawks moves them to 16-8, 12-5 NE10 while the crimson and grey snap their three-game winning streak and fall to 15-9, 10-7 NE10.

Before the game in a pregame ceremony, seniors Jameson Pierrelus (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.), Doyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) and graduate student Lewis Cramer (Seattle, Wash.) were honored in a pregame ceremony for their contributions to the team, athletic department and the Franklin Pierce University community. Seck and Faodjutimi also were honored for reaching 1,000 career-points earlier in the season.

Seck carried the load on offense with a game-best 22 points shooting 7-of-15 (46.6%) from the floor and 6-of-13 (46.2%) from beyond the arc. Teammate Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, Md.) followed up his career-high 24 point performance scoring 19 converting 8-of-15 (53.3%) of his shot attempts. Fadojutimi chipped in 11 points and five rebounds, putting him one shy of 500 for his career. Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Pierrelus tied for the team edge in rebounding (six apiece).

Saint Anselm was led by a balanced scoring attack that saw four of five starters reach double-digits. Gustav Suhr-Jessen starred with a double-double 17 points and a game-high 14 rebounds while Chris Paul produced 18 markers.

Before tip-off, the Ravens were assessed an administrative technical following a dunk by a Saint Anselm player in warmups that knocked out one of the shot clocks. Paul took the freebie and cashed it in putting the guests up 1-0 before the opening tip.

The away team took an early seven-point lead, 9-2 at the 15:21 mark which was their largest of the game off a Paul deuce in the post. The Ravens chipped away at their deficit coming within four 16-12 following split free throws by Sean Fasoyiro (Houston, Texas). FPU went on a 12-2 binge putting in nine straight points which was stopped briefly after a Moore three by another Paul bucket. The Ravens were up by four until a Seck trifecta established their first two-possession margin 30-25 with 39 ticks left. Reserve Matt Relihan notched a lay-in with eight seconds to go to bring it to a 30-27 game at the intermission.

Franklin Pierce outshot Saint Anselm in the first half (35.5%-to-28.1%), but both teams equally struggled from distance with FPU converting at a 23.1% clip (3-for-13) and the Hawks at a 16.7% (2-for-12) success rate.

The guests sank two free throws and a jumper to regain the advantage to their side 31-30. Pierce built up their first lead to double-digits off a 13-2 spurt kick-started by two Seck triples and seven in a row off the shot of Moore including a Fadojutimi steal to Moore three-point conversion from NBA range on the old Northeast-10 Conference logo to vault ahead 43-33 with 16:33 left.

One of two at the stripe for Suhr-Jessen cut into the Raven lead at 45-40. The two-possession margin for Pierce remained when Seck drilled back-to-back step-back three-balls on the right-wing pushing the crimson and grey's advantage to 10 again, 57-47 at the 9:33 mark. Seven straight via Saint Anselm brought it to a one-score game, 57-54, however, Seck hit another triple to grow the game back to a two-possession lead, 60-54. FPU stayed in front by six with 4:01 to go, but they went ice cold down the stretch missing their final six shots with two turnovers as the Hawks scored 21 of the final 28 points and the last 11 markers in the match to complete the comeback.

The Ravens will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, February 22nd when they travel to Northeast-10 Conference opponent Bentley University (16-10, 8-9 NE10), losers of six straight games for a 3:30 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/).