ALBANY – Franklin Pierce sophomore guard Kinard Dozier's layup at the buzzer rolled off the side of the rim to give The College of Saint Rose men's basketball team a slim 76-75 victory over the visiting Ravens in a Northeast-10 Conference match-up this evening at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium. The Golden Knights (7-9/5-6 NE-10) have now won 13 in a row against Franklin Pierce, including nine straight in Albany.

Saint Rose seemed to be in control and initially led by six, 76-70, following a pair of free throws by junior guard Jermaine Clark with 18 seconds remaining. Dozier took the inbounds pass and raced to the rim for a layup that pulled the Ravens (7-7/4-5 NE-10) to within four and forced them to call their final timeout. Clark was then whistled for a personal foul, thus giving Franklin Pierce another possession.

Following a substitution, sophomore guard Jeff Manchester rattled home a 3-pointer from the corner and suddenly the Ravens were down one, 76-75, with six ticks left. Forced to put the Golden Knights on the line, senior guard Josh Pelletier was fouled in the backcourt with Saint Rose in the double bonus. Pelletier came up empty on both attempts from the stripe and Dozier took an outlet pass straight to the bucket, but could not come up with the game-winner as the Golden Knights held on.

Senior forward Evan Lane led a balanced scoring attack for Saint Rose, which put five players in double-figures for the second straight game. Lane recorded his third “double-double” of the year with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Clark added 14 points, four assists and three steals. Pelletier tossed in 11 and freshman guard Shea Bromirski and sophomore guard Ben Johnson added 10 points apiece.

Dozier led all scorers with 23 points to go with 10 boards and four steals for Franklin Pierce, which had its season-best three-game win streak snapped. Manchester contributed 21 points behind seven, 3-pointers and senior forward Rimas Varanauskas wound up with nine points before fouling out with 1:27 left.

The Golden Knights shot a season-high 56.6 percent (30-for-53) from the floor and dominated the paint with a 38-20 margin. The Ravens displaced a 36.2 (21-for-58) shooting performance by going 22-for-26 from the charity stripe and knocking down 11 of their 21 field goals in the game from beyond the arc.

Both clubs are scheduled to continue their respective NE-10 slates this Saturday. Saint Rose plays host to Stonehill College in a 3:30 pm tip-off, while Franklin Pierce entertains New Haven at 4:00 pm in Rindge, NH. 

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