Franklin
Pierce Turns Back Southern Connecticut, RINDGE, N.H. (January 11, 2003) - Franklin Pierce got a balanced offensive attack and some clutch second-half defense to post a 71-60 victory over Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this afternoon. Franklin Pierce trailed by nine (20-11) early in the first half, but a 24-7 run turned the tide and gave the Ravens an eight point advantage (35-27) with 4:04 left in the opening half. The Ravens settled for a four-point lead at the break (37-33) and held a seven-point advantage (49-42) 6:22 into the second half after an Allister Gall (Plymouth, England) three-pointer and a pair of free-throws by freshman Justin Powell (Brookline, Mass./Brookline).
Southern Connecticut responded with a 10-0 run to go ahead by three (52-49) with 8:30 to play. Senior Bobby Trimboli sparked the rally with six points. After a Powell jumper in the paint cut the Ravens deficit to one point, Trimboli answered with a conventional three-point play to give the Owls their largest lead of the half at four points (55-51) with 7:54 left in regulation. Franklin Pierce answered with an 8-0 run to regain a four-point lead of its own (59-55) after a Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) lay-up with 4:07 to play. Sophomore Mike McCurdy cut in for a lay-in with 3:18 on the clock to trim the Southern deficit to two points (59-57), but that would be as close as the Owls would get the rest of the way. Trailing by five (63-58) with 41-seconds to play, Trimboli was whistled for his fifth foul, then a technical, allowing Franklin Pierce to drain four free-throws to ice the game and give the Ravens their third-straight victory. Junior Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) led a balanced Franklin Pierce attack with 14 points and six rebounds. Powell totaled 12 points and five rebounds, while senior Sharod Campbell (Dorchester, Mass./Boston English) contributed 11 points, nine boards and four steals. Gall chipped in 11 points (eight first half), aided by a 3-5 effort from three-point range, and two steals. Trimboli led all scorers with 23 points, on 9-15 shooting for Southern, and three assists. Sophomore Mike Vukmanovich added 14 points (11 first half) and five rebounds, while McCurdy chipped in nine points and five boards. Franklin Pierce (6-8, 4-5 NE-10) travels to Albany, N.Y., on Tuesday to face College of Saint Rose at 7:30 p.m. Southern Connecticut (5-7, 3-6 NE-10) travels to UMass Lowell on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. |
