#23 Men's Basketball Drops 66-60 Decision to Bentley

Ellis Cooper notches 16 points and 7 rebounds

RINDGE, N.H. (February 20, 2013) -- The No. 23 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team dropped a 66-60 decision to Bentley on Wednesday night at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens had their six-game winning streak snapped in falling to 18-6 overall and 15-5 in the Northeast-10, while the Falcons improved to 9-15 and 7-13 in league play.

Jasper Grassa pumped in a career-high 30 points to lead the Falcons to victory. Three of those came on a desparation attempt from well beyond the top of the key with just :54 remaining to avoid a shot clock violation and break a 55-all tie. He sealed the win for Bentley by hitting five free throws in the remaining :37 of the game.

Grassa's heroics were needed after the Ravens went on a furious 8-0 run during a 90-second span to knot the game at 55-55. Senior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.), who was playing in his final regular season home game on Senior Night, hit a pair of free throws with 2:51 remaining, and after a steal from Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) on the ensuing inbounds pass, the senior guard took a skip pass and drained a three-pointer from the left wing to pull the Ravens to within three.

Jean-Guillaume dropped in another three pointer moments later to knot the score. He finished the game with 25 points, marking the second-straight game he topped the 20-point mark. Cooper followed with 14 points and seven rebounds as those were the only two Ravens to reach double-figures on the evening. Franklin Pierce shot just 38 percent from the floor (24-of-63) and were limited to just a 31 percent shooting clip from beyond the arc.

Bentley's Tyler McFarland scored eight of his 10 points in the second half as the Falcons never trailed from the 5:24 mark of the first half on. He, too, hit a couple of free throws late to help Bentley come away with the upset win.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens travel to face UMass-Lowell at 4 p.m.

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(.)