RINDGE, N.H. – Seventh-ranked Franklin Pierce University pulled away from Southern New Hampshire University late to post an 83-73 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Wednesday night at The Fieldhouse.  The Ravens remained unbeaten at 5-0 and 3-0 in the NE-10, while the Penmen sit 3-2 and 1-2 in the league.

Ellis Cooper led Franklin Pierce with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Adrianos Vourliotakis notched 14 points and seven boards.  Georgios Papapetrou had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Ryen Vilmont added 10 points.

CJ Marriro (Boston, Mass.) paced a balanced Southern New Hampshire attack with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists, going 6-12 from the floor.  Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) recorded 12 points and seven rebounds, while Mike Stys (Hooksett, N.H.) knocked down three three-pointers and finished with 11 points.  BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) notched 10 points, while Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.), Phillip Tripodakis (Athens, Greece) and David Madol (Manchester, N.H.) all finished with eight points.  Madol was making his Penmen debut after missing the season's first four contests.

Southern New Hampshire held a 62-58 lead following a Tripodakis layup with 9:18 remaining before FPU took control of a game with six ties and seven lead changes with a 13-2 run capped by a Vourliotakis layup with 5:14 left that gave the hosts a 71-64 lead.   Marriro made a pair of free throws with 4:55 left to cut the lead to five, but the Ravens put the game away with an 11-2 spurt capped by a Curtis Christian basket with 1:39 left that made it 82-68.

Franklin Pierce led 40-39 at halftime and opened the second stanza with a 7-0 spurt to open up an eight point advantage.  SNHU trailed 50-42 when it scored eight unanswered points to tie the game 50-50 with 14:34 left on a Sanders three.  The two teams traded the lead five times over the next several minutes, with a three by Tripodakis giving SNHU a 60-58 lead with 10:31 remaining.

The guests scored the game's first five points and opened up an early 10-4 lead on a Stys three 2:14 into the contest.  A Vilmont three with 14:10 left in the first half gave the Ravens their first lead of the game, 15-14, and FPU did not trail the remained of the half.  Franklin Pierce opened a 36-26 lead on a Christian three with 5:20 left, but the Penmen closed the half on a 13-4 run and Cardarelli's three with six seconds left made it a 40-39 game at the break.

Franklin Pierce shot 50% from the floor while limiting the Penmen to 42.9% shooting for the game, but SNHU connected on 11 of their 24 three-point attempts.  The Ravens took 10 more trips to the free throw line, going 19-24, while Southern New Hampshire was 8-14 at the charity stripe.  Both teams grabbed 36 rebounds.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts Bentley University in a 3:30 Northeast-10 contest.