#7 Men's Basketball Falls at Saint Anselm 87-75

Ellis Cooper drops in 13 points and grabs six rebounds for the Ravens

MANCHESTER, N.H. (December 1, 2012) -- Senior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) dropped in a career-high 29 points, but it wasn't enough as the No. 7 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team dropped an 87-75 decision to Saint Anselm at Stoutenburgh Gym in Manchester, N.H. on Saturday. The Ravens had their five-game winning streak snapped in falling to 5-1 and 3-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Hawks improved to 5-1 and 3-1 in league play.

Jean-Guillaume was 11-of-15 from the field, including a 4-for-5 clip from three-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds, dished out two assists and swiped a pair of steals.

Junior forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) followed with 13 points and six rebounds, while junior frontcourt-mate Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) chipped in with 10 points.

Mike McCahey dropped in a team-high 25 points to pace Saint Anselm's attack, while Chris Santo came off the bench to pump in 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Roy Mabrey and James Morse added 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Both teams shot well from the floor as the Ravens produced a 49 percent clip (29-of-59), and the Hawks converted at a 47 percent pace (28-of-60).

Saint Anselm led for the entire second half, but it did not come without its tense moments. Franklin Pierce trimmed the Hawks lead to one or two points on several occasions, but every time they got it close the Hawks would have an answer.

The Ravens scored five-straight points, including a layup from Jean-Guillaume and a three-pointer from junior forward Matt Barboza (East Providence, R.I.) to pull to within one at 60-59 with 11:01 remaining.

But the momentum was short-lived as Saint Anselm reeled off 10-straight points to open up a 70-59 lead with 8:44 to go. McCahey and John Nielson sparked the surge with back-to-back treys and Santo capped it with a pair of foul shots.

The Hawks kept their lead between 8-to-10 points for the next several minutes, but the Ravens once again responded and eventually got the deficit to four at 79-75 with 2:10 left as Jean-Guillaume rained in back-to-back baskets on a three-pointer and layup, and Vourliotakis dropped in two free throws.

The surge failed to scare St. A's as Morse and McCahey each bombed in a triple over the next 34 seconds to push the lead back out to 10 and seal the win for the Hawks.

Despite the hot shooting from the Ravens, they could not overcome 20 turnovers, while the Hawks did a much better job of taking care of the basketball with only 12 miscues.

The first half turned into a track meet right away as it featured 11 ties and 10 lead changes. Jean-Guillaume knocked down a jumper to stake the Ravens to a 30-28 lead with 7:05 to go until halftime, but Santo laid in a basket to spark a mini 5-0 run by Saint Anselm to take the lead and eventually build a 43-39 advantage heading into the locker room.

The Ravens were in the midst of their best start in 20 years as the program had not opened the season with five-consecutive wins since the 1992-93 team began 7-0.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens travel to Waltham, Mass. to take on Bentley at 7:30 p.m. in the Dana Center.

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(.)