Men's Basketball Dispatches Bloomfield 90-78 to Advance to NCAA Second Round

Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris logs 16 points and 8 rebounds in the win

MANCHESTER, N.H. (March 16, 2013) -- The Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team turned in a strong offensive performance, shooting 55 percent from the field, and cruising to a 90-78 win over Bloomfield on Saturday night in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Division II Tournament East Regional at the SNHU Fieldhouse in Manchester, N.H. 

The top-seeded Ravens improved to 22-8 and advanced to Sunday's second round where they will face either fourth-seeded Dominican or fifth-seeded New Haven at 7:30 p.m. Bloomfield capped its season with a 17-13 mark.

The win also avenged Franklin Pierce's second round loss to Bloomfield in last year's NCAA Tournament, which denied the Ravens a spot in the regional final.

Four Ravens scored in double-figures on Saturday night, led by junior forward Ellis Cooper's (Northampton, Mass.) game-high 21 points on an impressive 8-of-11 shooting from the floor. It marked the second-consecutive NCAA Tournament game Cooper tossed in at least 20 points. He also tallied eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block to cap his all-around impressive performance.

Senior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) followed with 20 points on 50 percent shooting from the floor (8-of-16). Sophomore forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) sent in 17 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and junior frontcourt-mate Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) chipped in 16 points and ripped down eight rebounds. 

The Ravens were a sizzling 58 percent shooting from the field (18-of-31) in the opening 20 minutes and didn't cool off in the second half by connecting at a 52 percent clip.

The game went back and forth during the opening eight minutes, but the Ravens finally started to take control with a 13-0 run midway through the first half to break a 17-all tie. Cooper kick-started the surge with a driving layup and bombed in a three-pointer from the right wing moments later. 

Five different Ravens scored during the run, which was a microcosm of the balanced scoring Franklin Pierce received all night. Nine Ravens played in the game with seven of them going for at least four points apiece.

Franklin Pierce continued to hold onto its double-digit lead for most of the remaining minutes of the first half before Bloomfield staged a mini run to pull within six at 39-33 with 1:09 left. Clarence White, who dropped in a game-high 18 points off the bench for the Deacons, drained a three to give life to Bloomfield, but the Ravens quickly dropped in a pair of baskets in the closing seconds, including a Jean-Guillaume 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to stake Franklin Pierce to a 43-35 lead at the break.

Bloomfield never made a serious run at Franklin Pierce in the second half. Vourliotakis netted a 12-footer at the 11:28 mark of the stanza to extend the Ravens' advantage to 62-46. Franklin Pierce's largest lead of the half was at 17 points, 83-66, with 2:26 left as Cooper dropped in a layup to cap his impressive evening.

Three other Deacons scored in double-figures in the setback, including Matt Hall with 13 points, and Erik Sanders and Steve Henderson with 12 each. The one area where Bloomfield did hold a distinct advantage was a 49-12 lead in bench points.

Franklin Pierce did a solid job defensively by forcing the Deacons into 12 turnovers and scoring 19 points off of those.

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(.)