Rindge, N.H. – Senior forward Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy) recorded a double-double to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 70-69 victory over Franklin Pierce University on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action at The Fieldhouse.

Romich tied his career high with 24 points, 15 of which he scored in the second half, while grabbing 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the campaign. Junior guard Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) reached the 20-point plateau for the seventh time in eight games by tallying 22 points, including 12 in the first half, while adding six rebounds five assists and three steals. Junior forward Connor Mahoney (Hanover, Mass./BC High/Brooks School) posted 11 points, while sophomore forward Stan Buczek (Port Jervis, N.Y./Burke Catholic) had 10 first-half points and four assists.

Ryen Vilmont led the Ravens in the loss with 33 points. He connected on 9-of-17 three-point attempts in the contest and pulled down four rebounds. Tyler Iacuone was the only other Raven to reach double digits in scoring with 10 points, while Donte Gittens registered eight points, seven assists, four rebounds, three blocks and a pair of steals.

After the teams split the opening 10 points of the game over the first two minutes, the Ravens tallied 11 of the next 13 over a stretch of 1:40. Iacuone hit a three-pointer, Vilmont followed with two more and then Mike McDevitt connected on a jumper.

Following Vilmont's fourth three-pointer of the half gave the Ravens their largest lead of the game at 21-11 with 10:32 left in the first half, the Dolphins responded with a 14-2 run to take the lead. Buczek started the run with a jumper, Lovell tallied five points, Romich made two lay-ups and Mahoney nailed a three-pointer.
 
Franklin Pierce scored eight of the next 12 points to go up by two, but the Dolphins countered with seven straight points to open up their biggest lead of the half. Vilmont and Iacuone each hit three-pointers in the spurt by the Ravens, while Lovell scored five straight for the Dolphins before Buczek converted a lay-up for a 36-31 advantage.

McDevitt made two free throws with 19 seconds left in the half to pull the Ravens with 36-33 at halftime.


After Romich started the scoring in the second half with a lay-up, the Ravens posted eight of the next nine points to regain the lead. McDevitt made two free throws and then Vilmont drained back-to-back three-pointers.

Following a three-pointer by Paul Becklens with 16:58 remaining that gave Franklin Pierce a 44-41 lead, the Dolphins scored eight consecutive points to take the lead for good. Romich and Lovell made consecutive shots before Mahoney made a lay-up and two free throws for a 49-44 edge with 15:05 left.

The Dolphins stretched their lead to 57-50 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Russell Sangster (Rockville, Md./Bullis School) with 11:13 left before each team went scoreless over the next 4:14. Ben Mead snapped the drought with two free throws for the Ravens with 6:59 remaining, but Lovell and Romich countered with lay-ups to give the Dolphins their largest lead of the game with 6:13 to go.

After three points from each team over the next 30 seconds, the Ravens started their comeback. Gittens ignited the 10-2 run with a lay-up and followed it up with a dunk. Following a Romich lay-up, Vilmont nailed back-to-back three-pointers to make the score 66-65 with 1:59 to go.

Lovell pushed Le Moyne's lead back to three with two free throws with 1:21 left, but Becklens hit a pair 68 seconds later to pull the Ravens within one again with 13 seconds remaining. Mahoney pushed the margin back to three with two free throws with 9.1 seconds left. Before he was able to tie the game by making his 10th three-pointer of the contest, the Dolphins put Vilmont on the foul line, where he connected on two foul shots with 5.1 seconds left.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, freshman guard Tanner Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland/Bridgton Academy) was able to poke the ball far enough down court that Gittens was unable to collect the ball and get off a desperation shot before the time ran out.

Le Moyne (13-8, 7-7 NE-10), which defeated the Ravens in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference Championships last March, takes on Adelphi University on Wednesday in Garden City, N.Y. at 7:30 p.m.