Men's Basketball

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 6, 2013

CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

Fourth-seeded Ravens and sixth-seeded Penmen
earn semifinal victories Wednesday night for title game berth

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University will host sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University in the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Championship game on Saturday afternoon after both teams earned semifinal victories on Wednesday night.

It marks the first-ever Northeast-10 Championship game appearance for both programs.

The title game will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at the Fieldhouse in Rindge, N.H. on the campus of Franklin Pierce. The contest will also be streamed online at no cost at northeast10.tv.

Wednesday's semifinal contests were played a mere six miles from each other, as top-seeded Saint Anselm fell at home to Franklin Pierce, 71-68 [BOX], at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. Across town, sixth-seeded So. New Hampshire handled 10th-seeded The College of Saint Rose, 81-62 [BOX], at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

Despite the setback, Saint Anselm (23-5) is currently ranked first in the East Region and is most certainly expected to receive a NCAA Tournament bid when the field is announced Sunday night.

For video highlights of Franklin Pierce's victory, please click here.

For highlights of So. New Hampshire's win, please click here.

--

Franklin Pierce's Ellis Cooper had a game-high 18 points and 16 rebounds, while 2013 Northeast-10 Player of the Year Eric Jean-Guillaume had 17 points.

For Saint Anselm, Roy Mabrey led the way with 16 points, and 2013 Northeast-10 Rookie of the Year Mike McCahey had 11 points and eight boards in the loss. 

The Ravens' victory came down to the wire, as Jean-Guillaume hit a jumper for Franklin Pierce with 1:40 to play to put the Ravens up, 69-65. But Hawks sophomore Chris Santo tipped home a miss just 35 seconds later to make it a two-point game before Saint Anselm's James Morse went to the line with a chance to tie it.

But Morse missed the second of two free throws, which led to Franklin Pierce getting fouled after controlling the rebound with 2.6 seconds to play. Franklin Pierce's Ryen Vilmont (13 points) sank two at the line to make it a three-point game, and Saint Anselm was unable to get a shot off at the buzzer.

Franklin Pierce got its first lead of the ballgame with 4:49 remaining in the first half on a Vilmont three-pointer. It was part of a 16-5 run over the final 6:57 of the first half to put the Ravens up, 41-37, at the break.

--

Over on the other side of Manchester, So. New Hampshire shot a blistering 59.3 percent in the second half to push past Saint Rose (15-14).

Rookie Rodney Sanders had a team-high 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting for the Penmen to go along with eight rebounds. Elijah Bonsignore filled it up with 14 points, three steals and four blocks in the win. 

Dominykas Milka led the way for Saint Rose with 24 points and six boards, while Tyler Sayrechipped in with 12 points. 

The Penmen got out to a 15-point lead early in the first half, although Saint Rose (15-14) would go on a 29-19 run over the final 13:26 of the session, cutting the Penmen lead to just 40-35 at the break.

Entering Wednesday, the 10th-seeded Golden Knights had won back-to-back championship contests on the road, including an upset win at No. 2 Assumption College, to earn a spot in the semis against So. New Hampshire.

- #NE10 -