Franklin Pierce Stuns 
#4 UMass Lowell, 77-74
Rodgerson shoots out of early season slump 
with near-perfect night for 26 points

LOWELL, Mass. (November 25, 2003) – Franklin Pierce erased a seven-point deficit early in the second half and upset University of Massachusetts Lowell, ranked No. 4 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25 poll, 77-74, in Northeast-10 Conference men’s basketball action at Costello Gymnasium tonight.

            Senior guard Derek Rodgerson (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) shot his way out of an early season funk as he canned eight-of-nine shots from the field, including a perfect 6-6 from three-point range, to lead all scorers with a season-high 26 points to go with five rebounds to lead Franklin Pierce.

            Classmate and preseason All-American Jimmie Hunt (Utica, N.Y./Mount Ararat (Maine)) added 17 points, aided by a 9-10 effort at the free-throw line, four rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Tom Sadler (London, England/Farmington (N.H.)) contributed a career-high 14 points and six rebounds. Freshman Darryl Minifield (Brookline, Mass./Brookline), the Ravens 5-foot, 11-inch point guard, snared a game-high nine rebounds and dished three assists.

            Senior All-American Elad Inbar (Kiryat Haim, Israel) finished with 25 points for UMass Lowell, but 22 of those points came in the first 14 minutes of the contest as the Ravens limited him to just one field goal and 1-9 shooting from the floor over the final 26 minutes of the game.            

Senior guard Dana Jones (Bronx, N.Y./Westchester CC) added 21 points, five rebounds and four assists for the River Hawks. Classmate Uri Grunwald (Haifa, Israel) grabbed a game-best nine rebounds.

            Franklin Pierce, which entered the game with a -10.3 average rebounding margin over the first three games, out-rebounded its first opponent of the season, enjoying a 39-35 advantage on the glass. The Ravens also took advantage of a 56.3-percent (9-16) shooting night from three-point range, compared to 22.6% (7-31) for UMass Lowell. Franklin Pierce also out-scored the River Hawks 22-13 at the foul line.

            Trailing by six (49-43) 5:08 into the second half, Franklin Pierce got a three-pointer from Rodgerson and a lay-up from Sadler on the break to close within a point (49-48) with 13:13 to play.

            UMass Lowell pushed its lead back to four points (52-48) after a pair of free throws by sophomore Stacy Moragne (Evanston, Ill./Evanston). The Ravens responded with a lay-in from senior Kent Willingham (Queens, N.Y./McNair Academy), then back-to-back three’s from Rodgerson gave the Ravens their first lead of the half (53-52) and second of the game with 9:18 to play.

            The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes, then Sadler scored seven-straight Franklin Pierce points, capped by a three-pointer with 2:34 to play that gave the Ravens a four-point lead (67-63).

            Freshman point guard Ryan McLellan (Newport, Maine/Nokomis) hit a remarkable reverse lay-up on the baseline with 1:12 to play to give Franklin Pierce a 69-65 edge.

            After UMass Lowell missed a three-pointer with just under a minute to play the River Hawks were forced to foul and the Ravens hit their first four attempts, but when Sadler missed the front end of a pair and Hunt missed the back end of another, UMass Lowell closed to within a point (75-74) after a three-pointer from sophomore Wesley Platt (Jamaica Plain, Mass./North Cambridge Catholic) with 14-seconds on the clock.

            Rodgerson hit two free throws with eight seconds left to push the Ravens lead back to three points. UMass Lowell had one last chance to send the game to overtime, but Inbar’s 21^st shot of the night from the top of the key extended was well off the mark and Rodgerson pulled down the rebound to seal the upset victory.

Franklin Pierce (2-2, 1-1 NE-10) returns to action on Sunday for its home-opener when Stonehill College comes to town at 3:30 p.m. UMass Lowell (3-1, 0-1 NE-10) visits Merrimack College on Sunday at 3 p.m.

BOX SCORE