RINDGE, N.H (2/24/2023) – The atmosphere was electric on Friday night at The Fieldhouse for the opening round of the NE10 Championship between the eighth-seeded Franklin Pierce men's basketball team and ninth-seeded Assumption University. At the end of a closely contested battle, the Ravens ultimately prevailed over the Greyhounds, 81-74 to advance to the quarterfinal round.

With the win, men's basketball lives to fight another day and improves to a 17-11 (12-9 NE10) mark on the season. In addition to being the conference's No. 8 seed, the Ravens have cracked the top ten in the East Region, and currently rank 7th. Assumption's campaign comes to a close with a  14-14 (10-10 NE10) overall record.

To open the first half, the Greyhounds cruised out to a quick 8-3 lead in just two minutes played, but would just as quickly fall out of the lead as the Ravens staged a response. Over the next seven minutes, Pierce would overwhelm the Greyhounds with a 24-6 run, working their way up to taking a 27-14 lead, lining up behind 10-points from sophomore guard Mohamed Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.). However, the game started becoming all about scoring runs, as the tables then turned with the Greyhounds going off on a 23-11 run of their own to close out the half. Heading into halftime, the Raven lead had been shrunk down to just 38-37 lead, with Traore leading Pierce in scoring with 12 points through the first half, shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-4 from behind the arc. 

In the second half, the Ravens looked for some insurance with a 14-4 run through the first seven minutes, pulling ahead to a 52-41 lead. Despite the newly established gap, the Greyhounds refused to give up as they began capitalizing on multiple Raven turnovers, fueling a 9-2 run to cut their deficit down to four with 10:56 left to go. As had been the case throughout the night, Franklin Pierce had other ideas with a 14-4 answer, building a 68-54 cushion with under seven minutes to play in the game. With Assumption fighting for survival, the Ravens managed to keep the Greyhound options limited throughout the remainder of the half, and would eventually seal the deal with multiple trips to the charity, claiming the 81-74 win in free throws.

Two Raven starters scored in double figures on the night, as Traore concluded the effort with 23 points scored, shooting 7-of-13 from the field with six assists. Sophomore Sean Trumper (Ashford, United Kingdom) pitched in 19 points, going 7-of-10 from the field with six boards, three assists and a pair of steals. Junior Antonio Chandler (Piscataway, N.J.) set the standard off the bench for the Ravens, contributing 11 points from 5-of-8 shooting from the field. Through the full 40-minutes played, both teams would shot over 40% from the field, with Pierce holding a 48-26 points in the paint edge 

Men's basketball will now face top-seeded Southern New Hampshire University for the quarterfinal round of the NE10 Championship this Sunday, February 26^th  at 3:30 p.m.