RINDGE, N.H. (1/7/23) – In a contest that featured playoff-like undertones, the Franklin Pierce men's basketball team came up just short against one of the Northeast-10 Conference's hottest teams, Pace University, in a closely contested 68-66 loss at The Fieldhouse on Saturday evening.

The loss comes as the fourth straight for the Ravens, who even out at 7-7 (3-5 NE10) overall following the home loss. Pace continues their winning ways with their seventh straight victory and improves to 13-3 (5-3 NE10) on the season.

The Ravens found early success from behind the arc, quickly jumping ahead 6-0 on a pair of three-point jumpers from junior Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) and sophomore Jarnel Snow-Guzman (Lynn, Mass.). Following a pushback by the Setters, Bresnan would strike twice more from three-range just over five minutes into the half, putting Pierce back ahead 13-11 on consecutive possessions. However, the Ravens would struggle to pull away from the Setters on the scoreboard as both teams continuously traded buckets, eventually pulling even with each other at 20-all with 7:32 left in the first. As the time ticked away in the half, the intensity began to heat up between the two squads, eventually leading to a series of technical foul calls on both sides. Despite the tempers, sophomore Mohamad Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.) found a rhythm with five consecutive Raven points out of a 10-5 run, helping them along to a 33-31 lead at the break.

Traore returned from the locker room with an early minute layup to open the second half, but the Setters began to find ways past the Raven defense with a 9-4 scoring run to eventually pull ahead 40-39 at the 13:10 mark. Shortly thereafter, senior Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.) returned the Ravens to the lead on two separate occasions, knocking down a three-point jumper from up top and a two-point jumper from the right-side corner. Between the 10:00 and 5:00 minute marks, the lead would change between the teams a total of eight times, before Pace in time claimed the lead for good at 4:55. With time expiring, Sean Bresnan pulled the Ravens to within two points on a three-point shot from the corner, but trips to the free throw line in the final seconds helped the Setters escape with the 68-66 victory late in the half.

Mohamad Traore contributed a team-best 19 points and 5 rebounds in the loss, all the while shooting 8-of-18 from the field. Sean Bresnan additionally chalked up double-digit numbers as well for Pierce, scoring 17 in the effort including 5-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. Brandon Kolek finished as the third man in double-digit figures for Pierce, notching 10 points scored. As a team, Pierce went 22-of-55 from the field, while both squads committed 19 total turnovers.

Men's basketball will look to return to the win column against another conference foe on Tuesday, January 10^th with a road matchup at Adelphi University (7-9, 1-7 NE10). Tipoff between the Ravens and Panthers in scheduled for 7:30 p.m.