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Franklin Pierce, Goldey-Beacom Notch Wins at SMC's Doc Jacobs Classic

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Created on Sunday, 20 November 2011 06:19

Written by George Commo

Goldey-Beacom Beats St. Mike's 65-61

Courtesy St. Michael's Sports Information

COLCHESTER - Franklin Pierce University and Goldey-Beacom College both won during the final day of the Saint Michael's College men's basketball team's 33rd DoubleTree Doc Jacobs Classic on Saturday at the Ross Sports Center. Goldey-Beacom downed the hosts, 65-61, handing them their second narrow setback of the weekend, while the Ravens held off a sizeable Concordia (N.Y.) College comeback for an 82-79 win.

Sophomore Mike Holton Jr. (Portland, Ore./The Winchendon School) totaled 17 points and eight rebounds for Saint Michael's (1-3), followed closely by senior Tyler Schilling (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka) and his 16 points on 8-of-9 free throw shooting and seven boards. Junior Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) added 11 points.

Freshman Marcus Porter (Wilmington, Del./Howard) netted a game-best 20 points for Goldey-Beacom (1-1), including 16 in the first half, while snagging seven rebounds. Sophomore A.J. Picard (Skippack, Pa./Souderton Area) totaled 12 points, and graduate student Ido Yehuda (Hod Hasharon, Israel/Mosenson Vocational) had 11 off the bench.

The hosts shot 52 percent in the opening half and led 32-31 at halftime thanks to freshman Corey Crawford's (Dover, Del./The Phelps School) buzzer-beating jumper in the lane. The teams exchanged the lead 19 times in the contest, including on 14 occasions in the opening stanza, and reached nine ties.

A Schilling three-point play pushed the Purple Knight advantage to 40-31 with 16:14 remaining in regulation, but the Lightning later used a 10-2 run to grab a 47-46 lead, the first of five lead changes over the final 7:17. A lay-up by Holton put the hosts ahead, 57-55, with 1:53 left, but five straight points by the visitors gave them the lead for good. Holton twice brought Saint Michael's within one point during the last 28 seconds, and a potential tying lay-up by the Purple and Gold with four seconds remaining was off the mark. Yehuda hit two free throws with 2.1 seconds left to seal the win.

Franklin Pierce (4-1) fended off a fierce Concordia (3-2) rally during the first game of the day, seeing a 27-point advantage whittled to three before holding on. Sophomore Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) had 19 points for the Ravens, junior Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn./Trinity Catholic) had 18, and freshman Ryen Vilmont (Philadelphia, Pa./Hamden South) added 14.

For Concordia, junior Lavor Morris (Bronx, N.Y./Lakeland) notched 20 points off the bench while hitting four three-pointers, and sophomore Norman Pope (Washington, D.C./Saint John's College) notched 19 points. Freshman Tshyrad Oates (Union City, N.J./The Robinson School) had 11 as a reserve.

A Vilmont lay-in gave Franklin Pierce a 58-31 advantage with 18:17 remaining in regulation, but the Clippers scored 48 points during the remainder of the contest, shooting 50 percent in the second half alone while holding the Ravens to a 28.1-percent showing. Oates' jumper at 2:07 cut the deficit to 74-65, and Morris canned a triple with 11 seconds left to make it 80-77. However, Vilmont hit two free throws with three seconds left prior to Pope's buzzer-beating bucket creating the final.

In the opening stanza, Franklin Pierce led 27-7 midway through the half and, after a Morris three brought Concordia within 30-19, the Ravens finished the period leading by a 50-29 count.

The Purple Knights return to action on Tuesday, hosting nationally-ranked University of Massachusetts at Lowell during a Northeast-10 Conference contest at 7:30 p.m. The River Hawks stood 23rd in the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) preseason poll.