Sandiford, McDevitt Double-Double in Regular Season Finale Victory

WORCESTER (February 21, 2017) – Franklin Pierce University men's basketball forwards Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) and Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) racked up double-doubles as the Crimson and Grey ended their season with a 70-65 victory over Northeast-10 Conference opponent Assumption College on Tuesday evening in the Laska Gymnasium. The win, the Ravens fifth in the last six games, improves their mark to 15-12, 12-9 NE10. The loss ends the Greyhounds season at 7-21, 5-16 NE10.

The Crimson and Grey qualified for the 2017 NE10 Men's Basketball Championship for the second straight season and the 13th time under the leadership of head coach David Chadbourne. By virtue of the Saint Anselm College win over Southern New Hampshire University and Bentley University defeating Merrimack College, the Ravens jumped from the #4 seed to the #3 seed in the Northeast Division due to FPU holding the tie breaker over Merrimack. Franklin Pierce will travel to the Southwest Division's #2 seed College of Saint Rose Golden Knights on Sunday for the NE10 Quarterfinals with tip-off slated at 3:00 p.m.

This evening at Assumption was the seventh game of the men's team Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge. FPU converted 7-of-17 (41.2%) from long range meaning $59.50 has been donated to the American Cancer Society. Since the challenge began three weeks ago, the Crimson and Grey have gone 55-of-141 (39.0%) from deep and have amassed a total of $467.50 to the ACS. To make a pledge for the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge please click here.

Sandiford tallied a game-best 19 points and 11 boards en route to his fourth double-double of the season while shooting 6-of-11 (54.5%) from the floor, was a perfect 2-of-2 from deep and 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. McDevitt's double-double was his third of the season as he scored 18 points to go along with 10 boards.

Matt Banton (Brooklyn, N.Y.) joined his two teammates in double-figures as he racked up 11 points and snagged five caroms. Once again, Donte Gittens (Hartford, Conn.) stuffed the stat sheet with six points, nine rebounds and a game-high nine assists.

For the Greyhounds, three starters scored in double figures as Declan Soukup led the way with 16 points while grabbing five rebounds and handing out four assists.

The Ravens held the advantage on the glass as they outrebounded their opponents by a 48 to 33 margin, FPU also came down with 12 offensive boards compared to the Greyhounds eight which led to 18 second chance markers for the Crimson and Grey.

McDevitt scored the first bucket of the game as he received a Gittens feed and connected on a baseline jumper. Damien Rance matched McDevitt's bucket with a driving floater from the right block to knot up the contest. McDevitt cleaned up a Marvilio Berroa (Bronx, N.Y.) missed three and put the offensive board up for two on the left block. Assumption took their first lead of the game on a Branislav Vujadinovi corner three which made it 5-4 in favor of Assumption.

Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) put the Ravens back ahead by draining a three from the left wing. McDevitt continued his strong start by knocking down a three from the top of the key off another Gittens pass to give the Ravens an early two possession advantage.

Assumption took the lead on the strength of a 12-4 run as two and1's by Malik Brown and Soukup moved them in front 13-12. A Gittens layup was followed by a Justin Tuckson three-ball and a Tuckson jumper from the top of the key which pushed the hosts ahead by four, 18-14.

The Ravens tallied six straight markers to take the lead 20-18 at the eight minute mark as Banton poured in a layup off a driving take from the top, McDevitt tied up the score using a jumper and the junior big man put his team back ahead on a second chance bucket after a Dustin Cole (Standish, Maine) missed floater which forced Assumption to use a full timeout.

The game remained scoreless over the next two minutes until Oladoyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) buried a mid-range jumper from the right wing to move FPU ahead by four. Assumption's six minute scoring drought ended when Nick Pasquale connected on a layup underneath. They tied up the contest on the next possession as Rance was fouled while muscling in a layup. Rance missed the freebie and Berroa drained a three from the wing off a Sandiford feed on the next trip down the floor to move FPU back ahead, 25-22 with 3:06 left in the half.

With 90 seconds remaining, both teams' swapped three-balls as Sandiford and Vujadinovi hit treys which included a Soukup conversion with four ticks left moved Assumption ahead by one, 31-30 at the intermission.

The second half began with back and forth scoring until Gittens notched a spinning layup in the lane while getting fouled. The senior captain converted the freebie that moved FPU up by one, 34-33. Following an Assumption miss, Banton dished the rock to McDevitt on the right baseline and he hit the jumper to increase the FPU lead by three. Soukup tied up the game on the next possession with a three from the wing at the 17:05 mark.

FPU regained the lead by scoring seven straight points with five coming from Sandiford and a Banton slicing two which put Pierce ahead by seven 45-38 and required a timeout by the Assumption side.

Assumption notched four straight points on a Vujadinovi layup and a Tuckson jump shot. Lackey responded by going to work on the left baseline when he drove into the paint, hung a layup, got the kind roll while being fouled. Lackey converted the free throw which moved FPU's lead back to two possessions.

Vujadinovi made another long range shot which cut the deficit to three at the 11:52 mark. Both teams' defensive units locked each other's offense down for the next two minutes until Sandiford threw in a layup from the left and McDevitt drained a trey from the right corner to increase the Raven lead to eight, 53-45. Assumption looked to stop the Ravens momentum by using a timeout and it worked for a possession as Vujadinovi poured in another three, but Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.) hit a downtown shot from the right corner to move FPU back up by eight.

Assumption chipped away at the deficit as a Soukup three and a Rance layup brought the deficit down to four. After a missed layup, Gittens found Sandiford in transition for a three from the left wing that pushed the Ravens back ahead by seven with 4:32 left.

With 3:20 to play Brown knocked down a jumper from the high post which brought Assumption within two possessions. A few seconds later, Assumption took a 30 second timeout and committed a traveling violation which gave the ball back to FPU with 2:12 left. McDevitt went to the line with 1:56 left and made two free throws which increased the Ravens lead to seven at 67-60 with 1:56 left.

Assumption would only muster five more points over the final 120 seconds as the Ravens held on for the five point victory.

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).