HIGHLIGHTS

RINDGE, N.H. (February 14, 2018) – Franklin Pierce University men's basketball sophomore guard Doyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) was just about automatic shooting the ball Wednesday Night as he manufactured a career-high 23 points to go along with a contest-best eight boards in an 80-62 victory versus Northeast-10 Conference opponent Assumption College in The Fieldhouse. The win, the Ravens fourth over their last five duels improves their mark to 14-10, 9-10 NE10 and the setback sends the Greyhounds to 7-18, 3-16 NE10.

With two games to go, the Crimson and Grey moved into the no. 5 seed in the NE10's Northeast Division Standings after a Southern New Hampshire University loss to Saint Anselm College. The Ravens currently hold the tiebreaker over the Penmen because the Ravens defeated the Hawks, 93-88 back on January 31st. FPU is one game behind Bentley University for the no. 4 seed and play the Penmen Saturday in Manchester at 4:00 p.m. and host the Falcons on Senior Night next Tuesday, February 20th at 7:30 p.m.

Fadojutimi's 23 points were easily a personal-high as he bettered his previous mark of 19 set four times this season. The NE10 Weekly Honor Roll choice knocked down eight straight attempts to begin the showdown before finishing 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the hardwood and a season-best 5-of-7 (71.4%) from beyond the arc. He also flashed on the defensive end by forcing three-time NE10 Rookie of the Week, Matthew Kelly into a game-high four turnovers while holding the Assumption guard to 11 points and only 4-of-12 (33.3%) shooting. 

Following a two-game shooting slump (16.0% FG, 7.7% 3PT), Fadojutimi fixed his shot and has been a catalyst for the Ravens offense over the past five games. He has averaged 18.2 points, 8.0 rebounds (3.2 offensive boards) and 1.6 assists per game while draining 34-of-60 (56.6%) of his field goals, 13-of-27 (48.1%) from three-point land and a perfect 10-of-10 (100.0%) at the line.

Three other starters joined Fadojutimi in double-figure scoring. Senior Jordan Lackey (South Plainfield, N.J.) tallied 16 points with 10 of them coming during the second half on 5-of-10 (50.0%) shooting and a 2-of-4 (50.0%) performance from long range. Classmate Mike McDevitt (Cumberland, Maine) was 7-of-13 (53.8%) shooting the rock as he amassed 15 markers, seven boards, and a game-high two stuffs. 10 of Asante Sandiford's (Boston, Mass.) 14 points happened in the second stanza as he drained 6-of-12 (50.0%) of his attempts to go along with six boards, three assists, and one steal. Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.) and Sam van Oostrum (Sheffield, England) handed out six and five helpers respectively while Devonte McCall (Amherst, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet with five points, eight boards, four assists, one steal and one block.

Assumption sophomore forward Joseph Sullivan manufactured a team-high 16 points on an efficient 6-of-8 (75.0%) shooting. The Ravens out hustled the Greyhounds in the post as they scored more points (42-to-28) and snagged more caroms (48-to-25) than their counterparts. FPU turned 14 offensive rebounds into 16 second chance markers while not relinquishing the lead over the course of the contest.

Sandiford got involved in the early going by notching two driving buckets on the offensive end and a steal on the defensive side to push the Ravens ahead 4-0 just 29 seconds into the duel. A Bryan Boehlert two-handed dunk and a Kelly layup evened the score at four all. Over the next few possessions, the Ravens outscored the Greyhounds 9-3 as a Lackey block led to a Seck reverse lay-in off the glass to move the Ravens ahead 12-7. Both squads traded shots and points before a wide-open Sullivan underneath the rack collected a pass from Ben Vujadinovic and lofted a lay-up attempt home to tie the contest 25-25 with 7:11 to go before the break. The Ravens took a 30 second timeout and Fadojutimi responded with three to kickstart a 9-0 mini-run which Fadojutimi capped off when he buried a wide-open right-wing trifecta set up by a one-handed cross-court feed from van Oostrum to up the edge to 34-25. An 8-2 Assumption spurt, which included a Vujadinovic top of the point three-ball conversion, brought the deficit down to 36-33, but Seck and Amanie Craddock (Spring Valley, N.Y.) ended the half with back-to-back layups to increase the FPU advantage to 40-33 at the intermission.

Kelly started the second half by draining an uncontested left corner three-pointer to make it a two-possession game at 40-36. Over the next six minutes of play, the Ravens embarked on a game-changing 21-0 run with nine points coming from McDevitt and six by the way of Fadojutimi to grow the score to 61-36. A Lackey layup at the 5:38 mark gave the Ravens their biggest lead at 77-50, but Assumption brought the deficit under 20 before the final horn sounded.

The Ravens conclude their road slate of games on Saturday when they travel to NE10 opponent Southern New Hampshire University for a 4:00 p.m. contest that can be seen on Fox College Sports. You can also tune into the radio for the play-by-play at WGIR 610-AM.

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/)