MANCHESTER, N.H. (March 4, 2020) – The no. 9 regionally-ranked and no. 3 Northeast Division seeded Franklin Pierce University men's basketball 2019-20 season came to an end in the Northeast-10 Conference Semifinals with an 80-66 defeat at the hands of the no. 4 regionally-ranked and Northeast Division top seed Saint Anselm College in a Stoutenburgh Gym packed to the lid with Pierce fans Wednesday evening.

The loss wraps up the Ravens season at 16-12 overall while they still search for their first NE10 title. The Hawks advance to their 14th conference championship game and look for their conference-leading ninth championship on Saturday as they host no. 5 Southwest seed New Haven, who pulled out a 101-100 triple-overtime upset of Stonehill at 1:00 p.m.

Raven sophomore guard Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, Md.), who was named to the NE10 All-Tournament Team, carried the Ravens on his back as he led all Pierce players with a team-high 23 points shooting 10-of-16 (62.5%) on the night with a team-best nine boards and two blocks. Senior Falu Seck (Washington, D.C.) was the only other Raven in double-figure chipping in 12 points. Seck completes his collegiate career with 1,110 points. Fellow team captain Doyin Fadojutimi (Temple Hills, Md.) was quiet on the night chipping in seven markers. Fadojutimi puts a bow on his Raven career with 1,445 points, 519 rebounds, 180 assists, and 113 blocks.

For Saint Anselm, Chris Paul was a dominant force in the paint playing all 40 minutes and not taking a breather. He tallied a game-high 28 markers going 11-of-21 (52.3%) from the hardwood. Backcourt partner Gustav Suhr-Jessen double0doubled with 15 markers and 13 rebounds – four offensive.

Pierce was outshot and outrebounded in the showing making only 5-of-31 (16.1%) of their three-pointers with most of the shots being solid looks, they just wouldn't go down. Saint A's had 52 caroms compared to the Ravens 35 and feasted on the offensive boards having 14 offensive rebounds which led to 15 second-chance points. FPU had only four offensive rebounds and two second-chance points.

Seck began the scoring with a baseline up and under from the right corner for Pierce's first points. Paul countered with a slash through the paint for the hoop and harm to put the Hawks into the lead at 3-2. Tyler Arbuckle then knocked down a corner three to increase the Hawk margin to 6-2. Four in a row by Pierce, a Sean Fasoyiro (Houston, Texas) run through the lane and a Maxwell Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) tip-in off a missed Raven shot deadlocked the game 6-6.

Saint Anselm went on a 9-0 burst to push ahead 15-6. Moore stopped the spurt for the home team with a sweet feed through traffic to Jameson Pierrelus (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)for the and1 on the right block making it a 15-9 game. Paul gave his squad their first double-digit lead at 21-11 and a Danny Evans second chance right-wing trifecta opened up a 24-11 advantage. On the ensuing possession, freshman Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) brought it to a 10-point game splashing home a trey stopping the Ravens 0-for-9 dry spell from range.

The Hawks moved ahead by a first half-high of 15, 31-16 at the five minute mark. A 10-3 Raven run brought them within seven, 33-26 with 1:53 left before the intermission. Two Paul free throws expanded the edge to 35-26 at the break.

The hosts drained shots at a 34.2% (13-of-38) clip while the Ravens were 29.7% (11-for-37). Both squads struggled from distance with the Hawks going 28.6% (4-for-14) and FPU draining 2-of-16 (12.5%).

Saint A's came out of the locker room energized with nine in a row in a minute and a half span using two threes and an and1 to go in front 42-26. Two lay-ins by Moore high off the glass and a Zegarowski layup made it a 13 point, 46-33 deficit. However, another Evans second chance triple and an Evans and1 minus the free-throw jolted the Hawks ahead by 20, 57-37 with 13:27 to go.

Two acrobatic layups off the fingers of Fasoyiro and Seck pulled the Ravens within 16, 59-43 with 11:20 left to play. The Hawks responded burying three layups in a row to open up a 22 point, 65-43 lead. FPU brought the deficit down to 19 twice, but Saint A's continued to build it back to 22. One last charge by Pierce, eight in a row spearheaded by a press a steal to an easy layup by Fasoyiro made it a 15 point Raven deficit as they lost the battle to the Hawks 80-66.

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://www.fpuravens.com). 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 (https://shopfpuravens.com). You can also follow the men's basketball team on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FPURavensMBB) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/fpuravensmbb/).