Ravens Shooting Tails Off In Second Half During Back and Forth Conference Showdown

RINDGE, N.H. (February 10, 2018) – Four starters of the Franklin Pierce University men's basketball team scored in double-figures including senior team captain Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) who dropped a team-high 24 points in an 84-78 defeat to Northeast-10 Conference opponent Stonehill College Saturday afternoon in the Fieldhouse. With the win, the Skyhawks fourth in a row improves them to 15-9 overall and 11-7 NE10 while the setback stopped the Ravens three-game winning streak and dropped their mark to 13-10, 8-10 NE10.

With three games to go, the Crimson and Grey remain one game behind of no. 5 seed Bentley University and no. 4 seed Southern New Hampshire University in the Northeast Division standings. Franklin Pierce heads to Southern New Hampshire next Saturday, February 17 with tip-off slated for 4:00 p.m. and hosts Bentley in a season-ending Senior Night showdown on Tuesday, February 20 at 7:30 p.m.

McDevitt was 11-of-21 (52.3%) from the hardwood and he led the Ravens with eight boards. Teammate Doyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) dropped 16 markers on 6-of-12 (50.0%) shooting to go along with six caroms one assist and one stuff. Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.) stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, six rebounds, and a game-high six helpers while Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) added 14 points, four boards, two assists and one strip. Asante Sandiford (Boston, Mass.) recorded seven markers, seven rebounds, three assists and two thefts.

Sophomore guard Will Moreton paced Stonehill with his third double-double of the campaign, a game-high 25 point and 11 rebound effort. Classmate Dan Largey added 15 points and six boards in the victory. Stonehill's bench outproduced the Raven reserves by a 20-to-3 point margin, but the Birds held the advantage in post-production (46-to-34) and second-chance points (14-to-4). The Ravens began the contest hot by knocking down 19-of-36 (52.8%) of their attempts in the first half, but their scorching start failed to carry over into the second stanza (12-of-33, 36.4%).

Stonehill held a four-point edge, 6-2 following a KJ Lee layup. Pierce jumped ahead 8-7 at the 15:47 mark when Seck spun through the lane for a bucket. With the game tied at 12 all, McDevitt notched the next four markers via a jumper and layup to push the Ravens ahead by four, 16-12. Stonehill eventually came back to tie the game as both squads traded points until the end of the quarter when Sandiford drilled a runner with two seconds left to give the Ravens what looked like a 43-41 halftime lead. However, Stonehill's Brandon Twitty drew a shooting foul at mid-court and was awarded three charity stripe attempts. He made two-of-three at the line to tie the game for the 11th time heading into the intermission.

Lee pushed his squad in front just 25 seconds into the new half with a layup down in the via a Moreton feed. On the next trip down the court, Seck drained a three-ball to give the Ravens their only advantage in the second stanza, 46-45. Over the next few minutes, the Skyhawks exploded for a game-changing 21-7 scoring binge capped off by a Twitty layup to increase the lead to 66-53. Seven consecutive points from the Ravens brought the contest back into single figures following a Seck hoop and harm at 66-60 with 7:38 left to play. Two Largey free throws jumped the Stonehill advantage back to double digits at 72-62 before the Ravens made one final push. A McDevitt catch and shoot right corner three-ball made the score 72-65 with 4:50 left and two Fadojutimi free throws cut the deficit to two possessions, 72-67. Moreton answered by throwing in a dagger three-ball and layup to reestablish a 10 point lead. FPU came within four at 82-78 with 18 seconds to go, but could not come any closer.

The Ravens return to action on Wednesday when they welcome NE10 opponent Assumption College to The Fieldhouse for a 7:30 p.m. duel.

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). You can also follow the men's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensMBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpuravensmbb/)