MANCHESTER, N.H. (11/27/22) – Franklin Pierce men's basketball let up a season-high 52 first half points on their way to a 94-78 loss to in-conference, in-state rival Saint Anselm on Sunday afternoon.

With the road loss, the Ravens stumble to 3-2 (1-1 NE10) this season, while Saint Anselm improves to 3-3 (2-1 NE10) with the victory.

Sophomore guard Mohamad Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.) came out of the gate firing for Franklin Pierce, making his first two shots and scoring the Ravens' first four points. However, beginning at the 15:09 mark of the half, Saint Anselm rapidly took control of the action with a 19-6 run over a five minute span to secure a commanding 31-12 advantage with 10:00 left in the frame. From there, the Ravens would see a combined ten points between Mohamad Traore and junior Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.), but would fail to find their rhythm offensively the rest of the way as the Hawks continued to match the Ravens at the other end. As a result, the Ravens would enter the break trailing the Hawks by more than 20 points, 52-31.

The Ravens emerged much sharper offensively to start the second half, led by an early pair of three-pointers from senior Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.). However, the Hawks continued to find a way through the Raven defensive game, as the two teams began the second frame deadlocked 8-8 in scoring. With 7:43 left to play in the second half, Kolek returned with another set of repeating three-pointers to trim the Hawk lead 79-60, but the consistent scoring trend by the Hawks thwarted any hopes for a late comeback for Pierce. Regardless, the Ravens would conclude the contest with an 8-0 run, which featured two three-pointers from freshman Evan Willey (Casco, Maine), as the score would round out at 94-78.

Brandon Kolek found success six times from three-range on his way to a 22-point performance for the Ravens, going 8-of-12 (66.7%) from the floor to lead the Ravens in the loss. As a team, the Ravens struggled off the board with three players securing no more than three rebounds, but would shoot 31-of-66 (47.0%) overall with the ball in hand.

Men's basketball will look to close out the month of November with a win on Wednesday, November 31^st when they return home to The Fieldhouse to face in-conference opponent Le Moyne College, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m.