COLCHESTER, Vt. (November 16, 2016) – Senior guard Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) dropped a career-high 27 points on a 10-of-12 (83.3%) shooting performance as the Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team opened up Northeast-10 Conference play with a 14 point, 90-76 win against Saint Michael's College on Tuesday night at the Ross Sports Center. The win, the Ravens second of the year moves them to 2-1, 1-0 NE-10 and the Purple Knights remain winless at 0-3, 0-1 NE-10.

Gittens also became the 33rd member of the 1,000 point club as he slammed home a dunk off a Matt Banton (Brooklyn, N.Y.) steal and feed with 9:31 to go in the first half. Currently, Gittens ranks 32nd all-time in program history with 1,021 points as he passed Timothy Munch (2005-2008) who previously held the 32nd spot with 1,010 career points.

The team captain bested his previous single game scoring mark of 24 that was set twice last season, versus Merrimack on December 12 and then he matched that scoring output with another 24 spot against Stonehill on February 6th. Gittens snagged five boards, dished out five assists and came up with three thefts in his 27 point effort. 17 of his 27 markers came in the second half and he was a perfect 6-of-6 (100%) from the floor.

Banton matched Gittens 20+ point effort with one of his own as he tallied 21 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out four assists. Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) and Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) scored 15 each and were beasts on the boards with nine and eight rebounds respectively. McDevitt handed out four assists and blocked three shots as well.

Saint Michael's never led in the contest and was outscored 12-2 on fast breaks and on second chance opportunities (17-7).

The Crimson and Grey opened up the contest with consecutive three pointers from McDevitt and Banton to take a 6-0 lead one minute into the contest. David Sullivan put the hosts on the board with a jumper and Matt Bonds responded on the next possession with a dunk which made it 6-4 in favor Pierce.

After the Bonds slam, Banton buried a three-ball to push the Ravens lead to 9-4. A few possessions later, Derek Cheatom tipped in a missed layup by Jones Winston II to cut the Ravens lead to three, 9-6. Over the next few minutes, FPU embarked on a game changing 23-6 scoring binge capped off by a Banton beyond the arc conversion to increase the Ravens miniscule lead, to a huge 20 point, 32-12 advantage.

With 30 seconds remaining until the intermission, Banton knocked down a pair of freebies to give the guests their largest lead of the game, 44-23. Jackson Thomas III poured in a three-ball with six seconds to go to bring the lead down to 18, but Gittens swished home a shot from long range at the buzzer to put the Crimson and Grey back up by 21 at the break.

In the second half, a Bonds dunk at the 15:19 mark cut the Ravens lead down to 14 at 55-41 and a few possessions later he drove the lane for two which brought the FPU lead to 11 which forced the Ravens to take a timeout. Time was ticking away for Saint Michael's and Bonds responded by scoring two with another layup as his squad trailed by eight, 65-57 with 8:03 left. Over the next three minutes of play, a 10-0 run sparked by a Banton three point conversion, and capped by a Gittens layup put the game away for the Crimson and Grey.

The Ravens return to the Fieldhouse on Saturday for their home opener against NE-10 opponent Bentley with tip-off set for 6:00 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).