Pleasantville, N.Y. (March 3, 2022) – The Franklin Pierce University Men's Basketball punched their ticket to the NE10 Championship round on Thursday evening after some late-game magic helped the Ravens pull off and secure a stellar upset in the semifinal round, toppling the Southwest Division's top-seeded Pace University Setters by a final score of 81-75.

For Franklin Pierce, this will be just their second trip to the NE10 Championship, and the first time since the 2012-13 season.

The Ravens were strong in all aspects of the game throughout the opening half, with both the offense and defense clicking on all cylinders. Through the first frame, eight different players tallied points for the Ravens. Two of those players, junior guard Isaiah Moore (Temple Hills, MD.) & junior forward Maxwell Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) finished on top of the stats sheet, finishing the night by netting 25 and 20 points respectively. Zegarowski broke the ice for the Ravens, knocking down the door with a three-pointer from the middle, which didn't come till 3:05 into the contest. However, it was quickly followed by a driving score for Isaiah Moore, which setting the tone for Franklin Pierce.

 Close to the mid-way point of the first half, sophomore Matt Hofrenning (Minneapolis, MN) would give the Ravens their first lead on the night, followed up with simultaneous layup tallies from Brandon Kolek (Cumberland, R.I.) and Derrick Obanor (Hyde Park, Mass.), who had just entered the game off the bench.  From that point onward, the Ravens would preserve their lead, and take a 36-32 score to the intermission.

Additionally, from the defensive point of view, the Ravens caused frequent problems for the Setters offense in the first half, stealing the ball seven total times, with three steals belonging to Isaiah Moore, as well as freshman guard Mohamad Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.). Scoring streaks were also a common theme for both sides of the court, with teams trading attacking plays and scoring drives. The Ravens held the best streak of the first half, with a seven-point run. After an entertaining start, the stage was set for a much-anticipated finish.

Pace returned from the break aggressive, closing off many of the Ravens scoring chances and turning it into their own success. The Setters would mount a comeback and regain the lead early, scoring 7 straight points in less than a minute between the 16:00 & 14:00 marks. Isaiah Moore would then look to fuel a Ravens comeback bid, scoring on a drive inside the paint, and following up with an and-one on the next trip down the court. After a response from the Setters, sophomore Matt Hofrenning put another log on the fire for Franklin Pierce, setting up 5 points in a row for himself. Between the two players, they would combine for a total of 12 points in under five minutes. As the time ticked away, the momentum continued to mount for the Ravens.

As is usually the case in collegiate playoff basketball, the final ten minutes was an intense battle between the two squads. At the 11:47 mark of the second half, Pace held a commanding 10-point lead over the Ravens, 60-50. After the tag-team effort between Moore and Hofrenning, the Ravens found themselves within two points with 9:12 left. First year Sean Trumper delivered on the momentum shift with would become the tying (68-68) and eventual leading points (70-68) for Franklin Pierce on successive lay ups.

Pace would play some tug of war with the Ravens for the next two and a half minutes, before Maxwell Zegarowski was left uncontested at the arc off of a no-look feed from Isaiah Moore, which drew off both of the defenders allowing plenty of time and space for the shot. The forward sent home the go-ahead triple, and in the process drew a shooting foul, where Zegarowski completed the four-point play. Suddenly, Franklin Pierce found themselves in complete control of the game in the final minute of play. In the time remaining, the Ravens capitalized on late free-throws, as well as rake in three defensive rebounds off of remaining Pace University ball possessions. 

The stage is set for the Ravens in the NE10 Championship matchup this Sunday at 2 P.M, with the team traveling to Waltham, Massachusetts to take on the top seed of the Northeast Division, Bentley University.