Franklin Pierce
Comes Back RINDGE, N.H.
(November 22, 2005) – Franklin
Pierce came back to post a 67-57 victory over Southern Connecticut
State University after trailing by as much as 17, including 13 points
at the break, in Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball action at
the Fieldhouse tonight.
Senior forward Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline)
led a balanced Franklin Pierce attack with 14 points, on
7-of-11 shooting from the field, to go with six rebounds and two
steals. Classmate Tom Sadler (London, England/Farmington (N.H.)
HS) was a perfect 6-6 from the field and converted his lone
free-throw attempt for 13 points and grabbed five rebounds (all on the
offensive end) and dished three assists. Junior Darryl Minnifield (Boston, Mass./Brookline) added 11 points, a team-high eight rebounds and three steals, while freshman Timothy Munch (Blauvelt, N.Y./Storm King Prep) chipped in 11 points off the bench.
Franklin
Pierce hit 55.6-percent (15-27) of its shots from the field in the
second half, while Southern was just 6-for-24 (25%) after shooting
48.5% (16-33) in the opening stanza, including 5-for-12 (41.7%) from
three-point range.
Senior Mike Yacenda (Stamford, Conn./St. Thomas More)
led Southern with 12 points and seven rebounds, while junior Corey
Hudson (Baltimore, Md./Cecil CC) came off the bench to add 11
points and six boards (five offensive).
Junior Ktrice McNeill (Bronx, N.Y./FIT) finished
with a game-high nine rebounds.
Southern held a 17-point lead (33-16) after a Danny
Miller (Freeport, N.Y./FIT) lay-up with 4:26 to play in the
first half, capping an 18-6 run. Miller canned a pair of free throws
with 2:23 to play in the stanza for a 16-point Owls edge (36-20).
Franklin Pierce trailed by 13 (40-27) at the break and was down
11 (44-33) after a Hudson jumper 2:56 into the second half. The Ravens
trimmed the lead to three points (46-43) as Munch buried their first
three-pointer of the night to cap a 10-3 run with 12:14 to play.
Southern bumped its lead back to seven (50-43) after a Jamal
Cooke (Portland, Ore./Mt Hood CC) jumper midway through the
half, but Franklin Pierce reeled off a 10-0 spurt to take its first
lead since 1:04 into the contest (53-50) after a Sean Mayo
(Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) lay-up with 6:34 to play.
The Owls drew within two points (55-53) after a Yacenda lay-up
with 5:22 on the clock, but the Ravens used an 8-2 run to take an
eight point lead (63-55) after a pair of Munch free-throws to ice the
victory. Franklin Pierce (3-0, 1-0 NE-10), off to a 3-0 start for the first time in 11 years, is off until next Wednesday, November 30, when it hosts in-state rivals Southern New Hampshire University at 7:30 p.m. Southern Connecticut (0-1, 0-1 NE-10) hosts American International College on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. |
