PHILADELPHIA (November 13, 2016) – Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) scored a career-high 17 points on 7-of-10 (70%) shooting but it wasn't enough as the Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team wrapped up their trip to Philadelphia with a 65-55 setback at the hands of Philadelphia University on Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Crimson and Grey to 1-1 in the early stages of the campaign and the victory keeps the Rams undefeated at 2-0.

The Ravens were undone by 13 turnovers which led to 14 points by Philadelphia. Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) racked up 16 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two assists. Forward Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) tallied 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) snagged a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Ravens took their first lead of the contest as Sandiford lobbed the rock up to Gittens who collected the ally-oop pass midair and slammed it down with two hands to put FPU up 5-3. Both squads swapped three-pointers and on the next Raven possession Gittens connected on a jumper to give the Crimson and Grey their largest lead of the first half, 10-4 with 16:51 left.

An 11-1 run by the Rams capped off by an Andre Gibbs jumper regained the lead, 17-11 to their side. Senior forward Ben Mead (Ipswich, Suffolk (England)) answered with a three-ball while Lackey drove the lane for two and dropped in a jumper to give the lead back to the Ravens, 18-17. The Rams again used another 11-1 run as Kaison Randolph buried two three-pointers and a jumper to push the lead back up to nine, 28-19.

The Ravens rallied just before intermission as they scored six straight using two Gittens layups and a Lackey jumper with 31 second left to head into the half down three.

McDevitt started off the second stanza with a three pointer to tie up the contest. The teams kept swapping points over the next few possessions until Josh Bradanese connected on an attempt from downtown to push the Rams lead back up to three.

Over the next three minutes of play, a scoreless drought ensued before four straight from the Ravens side gave them a one point, 41-40 lead, their first lead since the first half. Six consecutive from the Rams put them up five after a Randolph jumper. Lackey and Amanie Craddock brought Philly lead back down to one with two key jumpers, but a 10-0 binge from PU gave them their highest lead of the contest at 11 points, 56-45 with 5:19 left and forced FPU to take a full timeout.

After the stoppage, McDevitt drained a jumper and Lackey swished a shot from beyond the arc to cut the deficit to six, but the Rams matched the five Raven points with five of their own effectively ending FPU's comeback chances.

The Ravens return to the hardwood on Wednesday when they travel to Saint Michael's for their first Northeast-10 Conference contest with tip-off slated for 7:30 p.m.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men's basketball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).