Vivican’s game-high 24 points leads Panthers past Ravens

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. (January 2, 2008) – Adelphi University edged Franklin Pierce University, 63-60, in a non-conference men’s basketball contest at Woodruff Hall tonight.

Junior Alvin Vivican (Brentwood, N.J./Brentwood) led all scorers with 24 points for Adelphi, shooting 9-for-14 from the field and burying 6-of-9 three-pointers. Classmate Sky Khaleel (Queens, N.Y./Benjamin Cardozo) was the only other Panther in double-figures with 11 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Junior Mike McDuffie (Elmsford, N.Y./Alexander Hamilton) finished with eight points and a game-best eight rebounds.

Freshman Kinard Dozier (Dedham, Mass./The Winchendon School) led Franklin Pierce with 14 points, connecting on 4-of-8 shots from the field to go with a 6-of-9 effort at the free-throw line, adding three rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Terrell Ray (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) collected 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor to go with 4-5 shooting at the line, while adding four rebounds. Junior Rimas Varanauskas (Kaunas, Lithuania/The Winchendon School) chipped in ten points.

Adelphi connected on 9-of-19 (47.4-percent) three-pointers for the night, including 7-12 (58.2%) in the first half, and finished shooting 44.9% (22-49) from the field overall. Franklin Pierce shot 46.3% (19-41) from the field, but just 4-14 (28.6%) from beyond the arc.

The second half featured three ties and four lead changes, but a three-pointer from Adelphi junior Chris Diasparra (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) with 55-seconds to play to put the Panthers up four (62-58). Dozier answered with a jumper to pull Franklin Pierce within a basket with 19-seconds left and the Panthers gave the Ravens a chance to force overtime by missing on two of three free-throw attempts in the closing seconds. After a Franklin Pierce timeout with six-seconds left, junior Timothy Munch (Blauvelt, N.Y./Storm King Prep) saw his three-pointer at the buzzer come up short.

Franklin Pierce opened its largest lead of the game (12-3) just over four minutes into the contest, sparked by three-pointers from Munch and sophomore Marcus Wellman (Monroe, Conn./Hamden Hall). Adelphi answered with a 27-4 stretch over the next ten minutes to open a 14-point bulge (30-16) after a Vivican three with 4:33 to play in the opening half.

Franklin Pierce trimmed its deficit to seven (36-29) at the break. The margin was still seven (47-40) with 14:04 to play when the Ravens regained the lead with a 9-0 run. Ray scored five points during that stretch, while sophomore Mike Barrow (Mattapan, Mass./Hebron Academy) added a key conventional three-point play.

Adelphi again opened a seven-point lead (57-50) after a Vivican jumper with 5:20 to play. Franklin Pierce answered with an 8-0 run to take its final lead of the contest (58-57) after a conventional three-point play from Dozier with 3:29 left.

Franklin Pierce (5-7, 1-6 NE-10) returns to Northeast-10 Conference play and rounds out its season-long five game road trip at Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Ravens return home next Tuesday, January 8, when they host top-ranked Bentley College at 7:30 p.m. Adelphi (6-4, 3-2 ECC) visits Mercy College on Saturday.