RINDGE, N.H. (November 30, 2016) – Junior forward Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) tallied a career-high 16 points and 14 rebounds as the Franklin Pierce University Ravens broke their three game losing skid with a 70-66 victory against Northeast-10 Conference opponent Stonehill College on Wednesday evening in The Fieldhouse. The victory moves the Crimson and Grey to 3-4, 2-2 NE-10 and the loss drops the Skyhawks to 3-4 and 1-3 in league play.

Sandiford's double-double was his first of the 2016-17 season and second of his collegiate career. He shot 6-of-13 (46.1%) from the field including a 2-of-4 (50.0%) showing from downtown while keeping possessions alive with six offensive rebounds. As a team, the Ravens scored 14 second chance points to the guests five. They also converted 16-of-20 (80.0%) from the free throw line, their highest mark of the campaign.

Teammate Matt Banton (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the team in scoring with 19 points on 6-of-12 (50.0%) shooting efficiency and 3-of-4 (75.0%) from deep. For Stonehill, team captain Ryan Logan poured in a game-best 21 points to go along with a team-high seven caroms, four steals while dishing out two helpers. Joining Logan in double figures was Isaiah Bess who knocked down 9-of-10 (90.0%) from the charity stripe en route to 18 points.

Stonehill held the lead for roughly 2:47 while the hosts were out in front for 33:06.

In the opening minutes, eight of the game's first 12 points came from the free throw line as the score was tied at six all with 16:46 until the break. Banton broke the deadlock with an isolation step-back three to put Pierce up 9-6. On the next Skyhawk possession, Bess responded with a wing three-ball to knot the score at nine.

The highlight reel moment of the contest came 30 seconds later as team captain Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) anticipated a pass, intercepted the rock and raced down the court for a two handed slam in transition which brought Raven Nation to their feet.

Skyhawk junior guard KJ Lee quieted the crowd with a three-ball to put his team back in the driver's seat. The lead changed hands a few more times before Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) cleaned up a missed lay-in by Banton for two that put the Ravens up 21-19 with 9:43 before the half.

Bess brought his squads deficit back down to one possession, but the Ravens scored seven straight to go up nine. Sandiford got the run started with an offensive rebound and a layup. On his team's next possession, he pulled up and drained a transition three which forced a full timeout for Stonehill.

After the stoppage, Banton matched Gittens early slam with one of his own as he stole the rock, drove down the right side to the rack and threw down a one-handed jam to bring the lead to a half high nine, 30-21.

Stonehill matched FPU's run using eight straight from Logan as he connected on a layup that was sandwiched between two shots from beyond the arc which brought the Raven lead to one, 30-29 at the three minute mark. The Ravens outscored the guests 8-4 over the final minutes to head into the locker room up five, 38-33.

A Brandon Twitty layup decreased the Ravens lead to three, 47-44 with 15 minutes left. Sandiford pushed in a layup, Dustin Cole (Standish, Maine) spun through the Skyhawks defense on the baseline for two and Marvillo Berroa (Bronx, N.Y) grabbed a feed from the low block by Gittens and drained a corner trey to give FPU their largest lead of the game, 54-44 with 11:47 to go.

Leading by seven 62-55 with 5:12 left, Stonehill embarked on a 8-2 scoring run as Lee put his team in position to take the lead after a layup with 2:57 remaining. Twitty missed a three pointer at the 1:49 mark and then Sandiford drove the lane for an easy bucket to put his team up one score, 66-63.

Gittens came up huge for his team in crunch time as he blocked Bess at the rim, grabbed the board and headed down the court. The Ravens however couldn't capitalize on their captain's defense, but forced a missed three by Jim Walsh. Bess snagged the carom, but Gittens poked the ball away to Banton who corralled the rock and buried two freebies.

Logan knocked down a three with four seconds left to come within two, but Banton again nailed his foul shots to ice the game.

Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) scored 12 points in 21 minutes off the bench while grabbing four boards and coming up with two steals. Gittens scored 10 points, snagged four rebounds, handed out a team-high three assists and committed three steals.

The Ravens return to the hardwood on Saturday when they host NE-10 foe Assumption at 3:30 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).