COLCHESTER, Vt. (2/1/23) – In their second meeting of the season, the Franklin Pierce men's basketball team rode a dominant first half performance to a 73-62 win over Saint Michael's College on Friday evening at the Vincent C. Ross Sports Center.

The win improved the Ravens to 14-7 (9-5 NE10) overall, and extends their recent win streak to seven consecutive games. Saint Michael's drops to 10-13 (4-11 NE10) with the loss.

The Ravens and the Purple Knights would trade baskets throughout the opening ten minutes of the first half, with Pierce only leading by two points, 17-15 at the midway point. Following a three-point basket by sophomore Sean Trumper (Ashford, United Kingdom) with 8:43 left in the half, both teams would be held without a field goal for over three minutes. However, Pierce quickly changed that as they stretched their lead to double figures on a 11-3 run through the final five minutes, which included a set of four points from junior Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) and a late three-pointer by sophomore Jarnel Snow-Guzman (Lynn, Mass.). At the break, the Ravens would carry a 31-18 advantage to the locker room at the break.

After surrendering the second half's first five points, senior Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.) aimed to get the Ravens back on track with a three-pointer from the right-side corner. However, after maintaining a 12 point lead through the first five minutes of the bottom half, the Ravens were put on high alert when the Purple Knights stormed back with a 15-4 run, shaving the Pierce lead down to just one point, 44-43. Despite having some of the momentum stolen away from them, Sean Bresnan ended the dry spell with another three from the right corner, helping Pierce regain their rhythm entering the home stretch. Over the final ten minutes of play, the Ravens managed to pull back ahead by just enough to force late foul trouble on the Knights, notching five points on free throws in the final minute to gain the final 73-62 edge.

Sean Bresnan led the Raven offense with 18 points on a 8-of-14 night from the floor, adding in six boards, four assists and two steals. Jarnel Snow-Guzman led all floor players with 36 minutes logged, shooting 5-of-11 to score 13 points along with four steals. Senior Brandon Kolek also hit double digit figures in the effort, rounding out 12 points with five assists. Collectively, the Ravens overwhelmed the Purple Knights down low with 42 points in the paint, collectively shooting 29-of-65 (44.6%) in field goals through the night.

It is back on the road for men's basketball as they will travel to Le Moyne College to continue their Northeast-10 slate on Saturday, February 4^th with a 3:00 p.m. tipoff against the Dolphins.