Andre Blackwood nets 10 points and awakens Ravens offensive attack in second half

RINDGE, N.H. (November 26, 2013) – The Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team shook off a sluggish start to the second half Tuesday night, and used a 12-0 run midway through the period to pull away for a 75-61 win over Stonehill at The Fieldhouse in Rindge. The Ravens won their second straight to improve to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Skyhawks dropped their second straight to fall to 2-4 and 0-3 in league play.

Freshman guard Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) bombed in back-to-back three’s to highlight Franklin Pierce’s 12-0 surge, as he was one of four Ravens to score in double-figures with 11 points.

Senior forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) was Franklin Pierce’s leading scorer on the evening with a game-high 19 points and 15 rebounds. His layup with 8:39 to go in the game capped Franklin Pierce’s 12-consecutive points, and he scored 11 in all over the final 12:07 as the Ravens outscored Stonehill, 33-19, to break a 42-all tie. It was Cooper’s fourth double-double this season, and first since he opened the campaign with three-straight.

Junior forward Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) threw in 14 points, including four three-pointers, while senior guard Andre Blackwood (Paterson, N.J.) added 10. Blackwood dropped in consecutive baskets to snap Franklin Pierce’s cold shooting spell to begin the second half, as the Ravens went nearly seven minutes into the stanza without scoring a point.

Carter Smith and Pierce Cumpstone led Stonehill in scoring with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Jimmy Walsh and Ryan Logan added seven points apiece, as it was Logan who opened the second half with five-straight points to pull the Skyhawks even with the Ravens at 38-38. Daniel Brix followed with a layup to put Stonehill up 40-38 with 14:16 remaining before Franklin Pierce awoke from its dry spell with Blackwood’s two buckets.

Franklin Pierce shot 42 percent from the field, compared to just 36 percent shooting for Stonehill, and held a commanding 32-18 advantage in the paint.

Cooper’s 15 boards led Franklin Pierce’s charge on the glass, as the Ravens outrebounded the Skyhawks, 46-37, including seven rebounds apiece from Vilmont and senior forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens).

The first half went back and forth with the lead changing hands nine times. Walsh and Cumpstone buried a three and a jumper on back-to-back possessions to stake Stonehill to a slim 33-29 lead.

The Ravens, however, countered and gave a small preview into what would come in the second half, as they reeled off the final nine points of the opening period, including a three-point play from Cooper and four-straight points from Gittens to go up 38-33 at the half.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Sunday afternoon when the Ravens travel to Worcester, Mass. to take on Assumption at 3:30 p.m. in Laska Gymnasium.

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(.)