Late Surge by Dominican Clips #10 Men's Basketball 67-63

Ellis Cooper goes for team-high 14 points for the Ravens

ORANGEBURG, N.Y. (January 3, 2013) -- A late surge by Dominican helped to propel the Chargers to a 67-63 win over the No. 10 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team on Thursday at the Hennessy Center on the final day of the Clancy Memorial Tournament in Orangeburg, N.Y. Franklin Pierce dipped to 8-2, while Dominican, the host-school of the Clancy Memorial, improved to 11-2.

The Chargers scored nine of the game's final 11 points during the final 3:40 to pick up the impressive upset victory. Dominican, which trailed 61-58 following a three-pointer from Ravens forward Ant Lessane (Brooklyn, N.Y.), did not flinch and quickly answered with five-straight points, including a layup from Johnathan Brown, to take a slim 63-61 edge with 1:39 left.

Junior forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) converted a free throw at the other end of the court to pull the Ravens within one, but Leon Porter answered with a jumper moments later for Dominican to push its advantage out to 65-62. 

The Ravens could  not come up with the tying basket down the stretch and Dominican sealed it at the free throw line. Franklin Pierce's poor free throw shooting in the waning seconds also did not help its chances for a comeback as the Ravens managed to shoot just 50 percent (9-of-18) from the charity stripe for the game.

In addition to coming up with several clutch baskets late, Dominican also held a 42-39 advantage on the boards and forced Franklin Pierce into 15 turnovers, while committing just 12 itself.

Porter netted 13 points for the Chargers, but it was Cory Quimby who sparked the offensive attack with a team-best 16 points. He also logged a double-double with 11 boards. A.J. Burton, who knocked down several of those late free throws, chipped in with 10 points as well.

Franklin Pierce's offensive attack was paced by Cooper and junior frontcourt-mate Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens), as the duo went for 14 and 12 points, respectively. Junior guard Curtis Christian (Harlem, N.Y.) went for double-figures for the second time in as many nights as he pumped in 10 points.

The teams exchanged the lead five times in the opening nine minutes before Dominican was finally able to string together an 11-0 run to open up a 19-11 lead with 8:36 to go in the first half. Porter kick-started the surge with a trey, Nick Smith followed with five-consecutive points and Burton capped it with another deep three to open up the eight-point advantage.

The Chargers led by as many as 10 points in the half before taking a 34-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Dominican continued to hold the lead throughout the opening stages of the second half and Porter's three-point play at the 11:45 mark gave the Chargers a 51-42 lead.

Dominican, though, couldn't quite put the Ravens away as they mounted a rally by scoring 12 of the next 15 points, highlighted by a Tyler Iacuone (Mahopac, N.Y.) three-pointer and capped with a Lessane jumper, to knot the score at 54-all. The surge was Franklin Pierce's final run at the win as the Chargers took back the momentum and cruised in the for the win. 

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday when the Ravens play host to Saint Michael's at 3:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's basketball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department's online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)