Franklin Pierce Wins Third-Straight, 
69-61 Over Stonehill
Rodgerson, Hunt key Ravens to victory  

RINDGE, N.H. (November 30, 2003) – Franklin Pierce claimed its third-straight victory after an with a 69-61 decision over Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball action at the Franklin Pierce Fieldhouse this afternoon.

            Senior guards Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) and Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) paced Franklin Pierce on the offensive end. Rodgerson enjoyed another strong shooting performance as he finished with a game-high 19 points on five-of-nine shooting from the field, including 2-2 from three-point range, and 7-7 from the free-throw line. Hunt added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists.

            Senior forward Kent Willingham (Queens, N.Y./McNair Academy) chipped in a career-high ten points for the Ravens. Sophomore Tom Sadler (Oxford, England/Farmington (N.H.) HS) finished with seven points and a team-high six boards.            

Senior swingman Ricardo Scott (Boston, Mass./Cushing Academy) led Stonehill with 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Junior Dezmond Morgan (Maplewood, N.J./Columbia) added 12 points and six rebounds (four offensive), while classmate Evan Pellerin (Toronto, Ontario/Jarvis C.I.) totaled nine points, a game-high 12 rebounds (four offensive), three assists and two steals.

            Franklin Pierce, which was out-rebounded 41-25 for the game including 28-11 in the first half, hit 52.6-percent (10-19) of its shots over the final 20 minutes to expand on a 30-28 halftime edge. The Ravens also converted 80.6% (25-31) of their free-throw attempts.

            Stonehill managed just 33.9% (20-59) shooting for the contest, including 37.5% (9-24) in the second half, and hit just 3-17 (17.6%) from three-point range (0-8 2^nd half).

            After Stonehill raced out to an 8-0 lead just 1:42 into the game, Franklin Pierce recovered with a 13-4 run over the next six minutes, sparked by a pair of three’s from Rodgerson and one from Sadler, to take its first lead of the game (13-12) at the 12:31-mark.

            With the game tied at 47-47 with 7:02 left in the second half Franklin Pierce scored six-straight points, sparked by a pair of conventional three-point plays from freshman Ryan McLellan (Newport, Maine/Nokomis), to open a 53-47 edge with 6:11 to play.

            Stonehill worked its deficit down to one (53-52) with 3:44 left, but a three-pointer from Hunt and a 5-6 effort by the Ravens at the line gave them a seven-point edge (61-54) with 1:20 to go. Franklin Pierce canned 8-10 free-throw attempts over the final 64-seconds to ice the victory.

            Franklin Pierce (3-2, 2-1 NE-10) returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Bentley College at 7:30 p.m. Stonehill (3-2, 0-2 NE-10) visits No. 4 UMass Lowell on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

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