Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris nets 11 points in return to the lineup

RINDGE, N.H. (February 16, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team won its sixth game in a row on Saturday afternoon and it was a big one as the Ravens knocked off No. 10 nationally ranked Saint Anselm, 75-66, in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens, who also moved into a tie with Saint Anselm for first-place in the Northeast-10 Conference standings, improved to 18-5 and 15-4 in league play. The Hawks, who had their seven game winning streak snapped, dipped to 19-4 and 15-4 in the conference. 

Three games remain in the regular season for both Franklin Pierce and Saint Anselm as it will now become a playoff for the league’s regular season title and No. 1 overall seed in the upcoming conference tournament (March 1-9 at the highest remaining seed).

Saturday’s win was further evidence of Franklin Pierce being able to win the big games as the Ravens made it five wins in five tries this season against teams which were either ranked or receiving votes for the national top-25 poll at the time of tipoff.

Senior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) had an amazing game with 26 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block. He scored 15 of his game-high point total in the second half as the Ravens were able to shake loose from Saint Anselm to pick up the win.

After the Hawks had tied the game at 54-all with 8:54 remaining, Jean-Guillaume came up huge on the Ravens next two possessions, including bombing in a deep three-pointer from well beyond the top of the key and running the length of the floor for a transition layup.

Saint Anselm kept it close momentarily and was within four at 61-57 with 5:43 to go, but Jean-Guillaume, again, had an answer and converted a three-point play on a fantastic floating layup and free throw. He scored five more points during the final two-and-a-half minutes to keep Saint Anselm at bay.

It was the fifth time Jean-Guillaume has gone for 20-or-more points this season. He was 9-of-21 from the field and 6-of-7 from the foul line

Junior forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) followed with 15 points and nine rebounds for Franklin Pierce. Five of his nine boards came on the offensive glass as the Ravens posted 19 second-chance points.

Junior frontcourt-mate Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) was Franklin Pierce’s other double-digit scorer with 11 points as he returned to the lineup after missing the last several games with an injury.

All three of those players were vital in the Ravens staying in the game early as they watched Saint Anselm score 10 of the first 13 points before Franklin Pierce rattled off 25-consecutive points.

Cooper settled things down as he worked his way down low for back-to-back layups, and Vourliotakis followed moments later with two-straight layups of his own.

Jean-Guillaume responded with seven-straight points on a pair of layups and a three-pointer. Cooper added his third layup in the run and Vourliotakis capped it with a baseline jumper.

It was Saint Anselm’s turn to respond and it did, eventually cutting Franklin Pierce’s lead to four at 37-33 with 2:12 left until halftime as Chris Santo drove in for the layup, which was two of his team-high 15 points off the bench.

Cooper dropped in another basket late in the stanza to give the Ravens a 40-33 advantage at the intermission.

The teams continued to trade baskets early in the second half before the Hawks went on a 10-2 run, kick-started by a three from John Nielsen, to pull even at 54-54. But Jean-Guillaume had other plans and pulled off the heroics for Franklin Pierce.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Wednesday when the Ravens play host to Bentley at 7:30 p.m. in The Fieldhouse. The game will mark Senior Night as the Ravens will honor the 2013 senior class both Jean-Guillaume and Josh Jones (Salem, N.H.).

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(.)