MANCHESTER, N.H. (2/26/23)- The eighth-seeded Franklin Pierce men's basketball team couldn't force the upset on the road against the top-seeded Southern New Hampshire University on Sunday afternoon, falling 58-51 in the Northeast-10 Championship Quarterfinal at the Stan Spirou Field House.

With the loss, Franklin Pierce closes the door on the 2022-23 season with a 17-12 (12-9 NE10) overall record. With the win, Southern New Hampshire improves to 20-7 (16-4 NE-10) and advances to the semifinal round of the NE10 Championship.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair between both squads. From a 9-8 lead in favor of the Penmen, the Ravens opened things up with a 9-2 run to grab a 6-point lead by a score of 17-11 with 9:54 left in the half. However, the Penmen had a response in the works as they countered with an impressive 17-5 outburst to carry a 28-22 lead to close out the first half. Sophomore Sean Trumper (Ashford, United Kingdom) and senior Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.) each notched nine points in the first half, with Kolek scoring all from behind the arc.

Early in the second half, the Ravens pulled to within three points thanks to a pair of made three-pointers by sophomore Mohamed Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.) and freshman RJ Delahaye (Newburgh, N.Y.), and a two-point jumper courtesy of Sean Trumper. With the score now at 33-30, the Penmen stole back the momentum by hitting a pair of threes to open on a 10-2 run, working their way back up to a 43-32 advantage, their largest of the game. With one last opportunity for a comeback, Brandon Kolek would score once more from the perimeter to cap off a 9-2 run, shaving down the SNHU lead to 52-50 deficit with under 4 minutes remaining in the game. However, despite the late surge from the Ravens, the Penmen finished the game strong as they scored six out of the last seven points of the game, closing it out and earn the victory by a final score of 58-51.  

The Ravens finished with three different players scoring in double figures, including Sean Trumper who finished the evening with a team-leading 14 points, along with four rebounds. The effort also saw Mohamed Traore finish with 13 points, and Brandon Kolek with 11 points from the floor. Altogether, the Ravens shot 20-of-54 (37.0%) from the field, scoring 13 points off of SNHU turnovers. However, the Penmen would decisively win the battle on the boards, grabbing 42 rebounds as compared to the Ravens 27.

Despite the loss, the Ravens still occupy the seventh-seeded position in the East Regional standings, and await a possible return to the NCAA Tournament following the conference's postseason finale.