Waltham, Mass. (February 6, 2022) – Keeping with the theme of "Championship Weekend" the Franklin Pierce University men's Basketball team travelled to the Dana Center on the campus of Bentley University for the Northeast-10 Conference championship game against the #1 seeded Falcons. Freshly named NE10 player of the year Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, Md.) recorded 20 points in the tight 68-62 loss. 

Franklin Pierce falls to 18-10 with the loss, while Bentley University improves to 22-4 with the victory. 

To start the game it was the Falcons who were finding the bottom of the basket with ease. Jumping out to an 11-2 lead in the first four and a half minutes. Graduate student Jordan Mello-Klein finished once at the rim and once from beyond the arc helping his team to the explosive start. The Ravens then turned on the offensive pressure to close the gap. Senior Derrick Obanor (Hyde Park, Mass.) drained a pair of threes on back to back possessions in the early comeback effort. There were lots of missed baskets between the two teams in the tightly contested half, but the falcons would take a 40-34 lead and momentum into halftime.

Junior Maxwell Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) led the game at the break with 11 total points with help from seniors Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, Md.) and Obanor both with 8 of their own. Two Falcons Mello-Klein, and Colton Lawrence both recorded double digit points with 10 each.

The Ravens opened the scoring in the second half with 5 straight points from freshman Mohamed Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.). Following a five point answer from Bentley Traore added another make from beyond the arc to electrify the Ravens crowd. Moore added one of his own at the 5:11 mark of the half to give Franklin Pierce the 47-45 lead. Similar to the first half the Second brought back and forth play between the two teams. Bentley regained the lead 52-49 with a Lawrence layup and kept it for the majority of the time remaining while the Ravens continued to keep it close never trailing by more than six points. until the final three minutes, and for only 8 seconds thanks to a Moore three pointer. Zegarowski added one of his own to bring the Ravens back to within 2 at 64-62 in the final minute. Sophomore Zach Laput extended back to 4 with a make at the basket forcing Franklin Pierce to send the Falcons to the line over the final 22 seconds.

The Ravens await their next opponent and positioning in the upcoming NCAA Tounament, with the announcement expected this evening on the 2022 DII men's basketball championship selection show, which will be streamed live on NCAA.com at 10:30 p.m. ET.