Ryen Vilmont has double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds and six blocks

RINDGE, N.H. (December 7, 2013) – Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) and Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa.) logged 22 and 21 points, respectively, and each swatted away six shots to spark the Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team to a thrilling 77-73 win over Saint Anselm on Saturday in a well-played game by both teams in The Fieldhouse in Rindge.

The Ravens won their fifth straight to improve to 10-1 overall and 5-1 in the Northeast-10, and now hold sole possession of first place in the Northeast Division of the league standings. St. A’s dipped to 5-3 and 4-2 in league play. 

Each player scored 14 points in the second half to spark the Ravens from a pair of 10-point deficits to the thrilling victory. They accounted for 22 of the Ravens’ final 27 points after Franklin Pierce trailed 60-50 with 10:14 remaining.

While Cooper sat momentarily in foul trouble, Franklin Pierce went to work scratching away at the deficit, first with back-to-back three’s from Tyler Iacuone (Mahopac, N.Y.) and Vilmont. Cooper returned to the game and quickly laid in a pair of baskets to keep clawing away at St. A’s lead.

Cooper’s layup with 5:39 to go pulled Franklin Pierce to within one, and at the other end of the court he came up with a huge block. Vilmont collected the ball off the swat, was fouled in transition, and calmly sank both free throws to put the Ravens on top 66-65 with 4:45 left.

Roy Mabrey, who had 11 points for Saint Anselm and went over 1,000 for his career, hit the front end of two foul shots to knot it at 66-all, but Vilmont hit two more freebees at the other end, and following a block of his own, Cooper took the ball and swooped in for a layup at the other end to put the Ravens up by four.

Mike McCahey responded with a jumper to make it a two-point game, but Vilmont countered with a deep triple to make it a two-possession game with 2:47 left. Chris Santo, though, picked up Saint Anselm on two-straight possessions with a three from the right wing and a layup to knot it at 73-73 with a little more than a minute remaining.

Cooper, was quick to shrug off Saint Anselm’s mini-run, and dropped in a layup to make it 75-73 Ravens. Mabrey had a chance in the waning seconds to hit a game-winning three, but the shot caromed long off the back iron where Vilmont tracked it down before being fouled, and hitting the final two free throws to clinch the miraculous victory.

Vilmont finished with a double-double, as he also ripped down 14 rebounds, and handed out four helpers. Cooper collected seven boards to go along with four assists and four steals.

Franklin Pierce logged 16 blocks for the game, including getting two apiece from senior forward Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris (Cholargos, Athens) and rookie guard Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.).

Gittens registered 12 points and four rebounds, while Vourliotakis logged eight points, eight boards and five assists. Senior guard Scotty Tavares-Taylor (Roxbury, Mass.) came off the bench to chip in with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting. Franklin Pierce held a 44-35 advantage on the boards.

Santo paced Saint Anselm with 18 points, and also went for a double-double with 10 rebounds, while Dominic Borelli came off the bench to pump in 13 points. McCahey added 10.

Both teams turned in spectacular performances, as Saturday’s game was just the latest in a long line of thrilling contests between the two schools in the sport. The Ravens won for the third game in a row over Saint Anselm, as the streak also included last year’s amazing 71-68 triumph in the Northeast-10 semifinals in Manchester.

Franklin Pierce returns to action Tuesday night when the Ravens play host to Bentley at 7:30 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(.)