Franklin Pierce
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (November 29, 2006) – Senior captain Darryl Minnifield’s (Boston, Mass./Brookline) three-pointer with eight-seconds to play lifted Franklin Pierce to its third-straight victory, an 87-84 decision at Pace University in Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball action at the Goldstein Athletic Center tonight. Minnifield’s three held off a furious Pace rally, which saw the hosts come back from a 17-point deficit five minutes into the second half. The Setters had a look in the closing seconds to force overtime, but junior Ryan Williams’ (Centreville, Va./Paul VI) off-balance three at the buzzer was off the mark. Freshman Marcus Wellman (Monroe, Conn./Hamden Hall) led Franklin Pierce with a season-high 22 points (14 first half) as he hit 6-of-12 shots from the field and converted 8-12 free-throw attempts, to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Minnifield finished with 18 points (11 first half), three rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Jack Barrett (Reading, Mass./Andover) netted a career-best 17 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Senior Sean Mayo (Saco, Maine/Thornton Academy) saw his streak of three-straight double-doubles come to an end, but chipped in 13 points and six boards.
Williams led all scorers for Pace with 27 points (14 first half) as be buried 6-of-11 from three-point range to go with five assists and two steals. Junior Desmond Quincy-Jones (Rye, N.Y./Rye) totaled 16 points (14 second half), eight rebounds and three steals, while sophomore Randy Wilson (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill) added 13 points and seven rebounds (four offensive). Franklin Pierce shot 50-percent from the field in each half, also connecting on 5-of-9 from three-point range in the second half. Pace forced ten second-half turnovers for the Ravens, turning them into 18 points to aid its comeback. Aside from a five-point deficit two minutes into the contest, Franklin Pierce carried the first half leading by as many as 12 points before settling for a nine-point (43-34) advantage at the intermission.
Pace closed to within a point (43-42) after a Callum Jones (Manchester, England) free-throw just 1:48 into the second half, but Franklin Pierce responded with an 18-2 run to open a 17-point cushion (61-44) after a Barrett three-pointer with 14:15 to play. Barrett had two three’s during the run and senior Nazim Senaldi (Istanbul, Turkey) scored four of his eight points during that stretch. A Williams three-pointer and time out sparked Pace to an 18-3 run that cut the gap to a pair (64-62) after a Wilson jumper with 11:01 to go. Franklin Pierce regained a six-point cushion (73-67) after a Minnifield three-pointer with nine-minutes left, but the Setters forced a 76-76 tie with a conventional three-point play by Quincy-Jones with 5:44 remaining. Williams knotted the score for the fifth time (81-81) in the half with a three-pointer with 2:59 left and then gave the Setters the lead with a jumper with 2:04 to go, but Mayo converted a three-point play to put Franklin Pierce back ahead (84-83) with 1:47 left. Quincy-Jones hit just one of two at the line to knot the score at 84-84 with 1:31 left and both teams missed on their next possession before the Ravens held for one-shot, setting up Minnifield’s three from the left wing with eight seconds left. Franklin Pierce (4-2, 2-1 NE-10) is back in action on Saturday when it hosts No. 25 Stonehill College in a game that will be played at Keene State College’s Spaulding Gymnasium at 3:30 p.m. Pace (3-4, 1-2 NE-10) travels to Southern New Hampshire University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. |
