Ant Lessane with a season-high 17 points

RINDGE, N.H. (February 6, 2014) – Senior forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) recorded a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds Thursday night, but it wasn’t enough as the Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team dropped a 106-91 decision to Saint Michael’s at The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

The Ravens had their two-game winning streak snapped in falling to 16-4 overall and 11-4 in the Northeast-10, while the Purple Knights improved to 15-5 and 10-5 in league play. St. Mike’s also swept the two-game regular season series from the Ravens.

James Cambronne and Corey Crawford II each pumped in a game-high 26 points to pace Saint Michael’s, while Mike Holton Jr. and Greg Grippo followed with 19 and 13, respectively.

The Purple Knights shot a blistering 59 percent from the field (36-of-61), including a stellar 68 percent in the second half. St. Mike’s also connected for a 57-percent clip (12-of-21) from three-point range.

Franklin Pierce wasn’t too bad offensively either, going for 48 percent from the field, and having four other Ravens score in double-digits to join Vourliotakis. Senior forward Ant Lessane (Brooklyn, N.Y.) pumped in a season-best 17 points, while junior Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) added 16. Freshman Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) threw down three thunderous dunks on the way to 13 points. Junior Paul Becklens (Boston, Mass.) came off the pine to pump in 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting.

The Ravens tried to hang tough with St. Mike’s all night, and several times throughout the second half got the deficit to within a possession, but were not able to get the go-ahead basket late.

Becklens hit a driving layup with 7:40 remaining to pull the Ravens to within one at 82-81, but St. Mike’s reeled off four-straight points on a pair of layups from Cambronne, and he eventually made it a 95-87 advantage minutes later on a deep triple.

Franklin Pierce couldn’t recover, and a pair of Holton Jr. free throws moments after that extended the Purple Knights’ lead out to double-figures.

The Ravens committed just four turnovers in the game, while forcing St. Mike’s into 15 miscues, but the Purple Knights more than made up for it with a 45-27 advantage on the glass.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Saturday when the Ravens play host to Assumption 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 http://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 http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)