RINDGE, N.H. (1/17/23) – The Franklin Pierce men's basketball team kept the ball rolling in the right direction at The Fieldhouse on Tuesday evening and enjoyed a 77-69 non-conference victory over the College of Staten Island.

The win is the third straight for the Ravens, who improve to 10-7 (5-5 NE10) on the season with a 5-2 record against non-conference opponents. Staten Island falls to 5-12 (3-4 ECC) on their respective slate following the loss.

The first half began as a game of leapfrog between the two teams, with six lead changes across the opening ten minutes. Trailing the Dolphins 19-12 nearing the midway point, the Ravens powered back to tie-up the contest on a 7-0 run, which included a three-pointer from freshman JB Mukeba (Lynn, Mass.) and a layup from sophomore Wol Maiwen (Auburn, Maine). With under five minutes to play in the half, Staten Island continued their efforts to pull away from Pierce in the scoreboard, but continuously found themselves back at square one as the Ravens battled back again. From a 24-19 deficit, Pierce made it a 27-all game with an 8-3 run, with seven of the points belonging to the combined efforts of Antonio Chandler (Piscataway, N.J.) and Theisan Lee (Cincinnati, Ohio). After trailing the majority of the half, Pierce eventually pulled ahead for good on a final seconds three-point jumper from Wol Maiwen, closing out the first 20 minutes with a 32-29 lead for the Ravens.

After the two teams traded points to begin the second half,  the Ravens began to heat up with an 11-0 run which included points from five different players. Mohamad Traore (Hyde Park, Mass.), who's three-pointer was included in the run, would go on in the half to score seven points, matching the efforts of junior Sean Bresnan (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Wol Maiwen. With exactly 10:00 left in the half, Pierce continued to rain down from behind the arc as freshman RJ Delahaye (Newburgh, N.Y.) secured three points, putting the host team ahead 61-43. From there, the Ravens kept the Dolphins at bay, and marched on to the 77-69 victory after making four free throws in the final minute.

Mohamad Traore paced Pierce with 15 points on the night, but the storyline of the contest came off the bench with a combined 32 points scored by the Raven reserves. Wol Maiwen completed his 12^th appearance of the season with a career-best 12 points scored, shooting 5-of-6 from the floor. Both teams rebounded well, though the Ravens held a 46-42 edge on the boards, including 32 defensive. From the floor, Pierce shot 27-of-68 (39.7%) in addition to a 9-of-30 night from three-range (30.0%).

Men's basketball will look to make it four in a row on the road at American International on Saturday, January 21^st for an early evening Northeast-10 matchup beginning at 3:30 p.m.