Senior guard Donte Gittens scored a team-high 24 points while Mike McDevitt added 22 of his own as the Franklin Pierce University men’s basketball team beat Northeast-10 Conference opponent Merrimack College 86-79 Tuesday night on Hammel Court. The win, the Ravens third in a row move them to 5-4, 4-2 NE10 and the loss drops the Warriors to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in league play.
Gittens matched a career-high with nine assists in the game while coming down with five boards. McDevitt shot 10-of-15 (66.7%) from the hardwood, grabbed eight rebounds and dished out si tallied 18 points on a 7-for-10 (70.0%) shooting performance and snagged five caroms. Lackey tallied 16 of his 18 points in the second half and only missed one shot (a free throw) from the floor. Fellow starter Matt Banton joined his teammates in double-figures with 13 points.
The Ravens made 35-of-61 (57.4%) of their field goal attempts which is their best shooting performance of the young season. The Crimson and Grey also outrebounded their counterparts by a 40-to-25 margin and shared the rock more with teammates (23 assists to 15).
Freshman guard Juvaris Harris was a force for Merrimack as he accumulated a game-high 28 points on 11-of-13 (84.6%) shooting. Harris also handed out seven assists, came up with four steals and grabbed three boards. Sharpshooter Ryan Boulter connected on 6-of-10 (60.0%) shots from deep en route to 26 points.
The entire contest was a seesaw affair as the lead swapped hands 16 times and the score was knotted up 11 times.
The Ravens return to the hardwood on Saturday for another huge NE10 showdown versus Saint Anslem at 3:30 p.m. The winner of the contest will have sole possession of second place in the Northeast Division.