RINDGE, N.H. (11/12/22) - The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season at home on Saturday evening, nearly pulling off a late comeback in the second half versus Holy Family University. However, the Ravens came up just short in the end, falling to Tigers 69-63 in the non-conference matchup at the Fieldhouse.

The loss comes on day one of a season opening tournament hosted by the Ravens, additionally welcoming American International College (AIC) and Jefferson University to the event. The loss moves the Ravens to an 0-1 record to open the season, as Holy Family moves to 1-0 to open their respective campaign following the road win.

Through the first five minutes of play, things would get off to a slow start as neither team could get going offensively. At the 16:38 mark, the first bucket of the season for the Ravens came off a corner three from sophomore Mohammad Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.), putting the Ravens on the board trailing 5-3. In the ensuing action, the Ravens would eventually pull ahead 11-5 off a pair of threes from senior Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.) and Jarnel Snow-Guzman (Lynn, Mass.) on separate drives, all the while holding the Tigers off on consecutive possessions.

With 6:41 left in the first frame, sophomore Wol Maiwen (Auburn, Maine) collected his first set of points since joining the Ravens with a dunk following a defensive rebound at the other end, pushing the Raven lead to 27-17. However, struggles on both fronts began to surface throughout the remainder of the half, as six unanswered points by the Tigers would cut the Raven lead down to just four points. Freshman Evan Willey (Casco, Maine) ended the Pierce scoring drought with his first batch of collegiate points on a fast-break three pointer, but the Raven defense would surrender another five unanswered points before time expired. As a result, Franklin Pierce entered the second half with a paper thin 30-28 lead.  

To open the second half, an early Tiger three turned the game upside down on the Ravens who would eventually slide down 35-30. From then on, the Tigers continued to match the Ravens at the rim, staying one step ahead all the way up to the two minute mark of the final frame. With Holy Family leading 65-56 with 1:20 left to play, succeeding three pointers out of a timeout by Brandon Kolek and junior Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) quickly pulled the Ravens within range of a comeback, with the Tiger lead now at 65-62. However, the Tigers would batten down defensively on the Ravens, and secure the victory with a series of free throws in the waning seconds.

To finish the evening for the Ravens, Brandon Kolek went 6-13 from the field with 16 points scored, along with four rebounds. Mohamad Traore registered a match high 35 minutes played, notching 11 points (4-16 FG), matching a team best four assists in the loss.

Men's Basketball will return to action tomorrow afternoon (11/13) for a 4 p.m. tip-off with additional participant Jefferson University.