Rivier's Cormac Hayes carries the puck up ice next to teammate Jon Tavella during their season finale vs Franklin Pierce in Gardner, Mass. on Wednesday night. (Courtesy photo by Leanna Puccio/Rivier Athletics)

NASHUA – On a Wednesday night to remember honoring Nikolas Pignone and Devin Owens, the Rivier men’s basketball team used double-digit point performances from five different scorers to down Mitchell, 102-64, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at the Muldoon Center.

The Raiders concluded their conference slate and improved to 14-10 (6-8 GNAC) while the Mariners fell to 7-17 (4-9 GNAC).

Rivier took a 20-point lead into the halftime after Raquan Groves hit a layup at the buzzer to make it 47-27.

In the second half, the Raiders used 12 points from Devin Owens to outscore the Mariners, 55-37, and pull away with their largest margin of victory of the season.

Five separate scorers reached double-digit point totals in the contest, with Owens scoring a team-best 22 points on 9-of-19 (47.4%) shooting while recording five boards, five assists, two steals, and a block. Pignone scored 19 points on 70% shooting, thanks in part to going 4-of-6 from three-point range. Robenson Baguidy tallied 18 points on 72.7% shooting with eight rebounds, six steals, and five assists. Also hauling in eight rebounds was Odarius Cade, who scored 16 points and dished out five helpers. Groves’ 7-of-9 (77.8%) performance from the field yielded him 15 points in the triumph.

Rivier is set to conclude the regular season with a non-conference clash against Fisher on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Muldoon Center.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MITCHELL 72, RIVIER 66

Rivier concluded the regular-season 9-16 (7-7 GNAC) while Mitchell improved to 5-16 (3-10 GNAC). Prior to the contest, the Raiders celebrated seniors Sophia Abdallah and Anna Stenger.

After finishing the first half tied 33-33 with Lyric Grumblatt scoring 16 points, Rivier was outscored 39-33 in the second half as Mitchell pushed their way to a six-point victory.

Grumblatt scored a team-best 31 points. Mitchell’s Yasmine Santos scored 37 points on 50% shooting from the floor.

Rivier has earned the eighth seed in the GNAC postseason tournament and will host a play-in game on Monday, Feb. 19 with a time to be announced.

MEN’S HOCKEY

FRANKLIN PIERCE 2, RIVIER 1

After falling in their season finale at at Gardner (Mass.) Veterans Ice Arena, the Raiders finished 10-12-3, while the Ravens moved to 12-13-0 overall with two contests left.

In the second period, Riv’s Damon Kiyawasew skated into the offensive zone sliding the puck to Liam Hennessy giving Kiyawasew enough time to get in front of the net to receive the puck back and tip in the first goal of the contest at 7:14.

The Ravens answered with a goal at 14:57 in the second, sneaking a goal into the net to tie the score at 1-1.

Franklin Pierce secured their win at 3:39 into the third period with a goal that was deflected in front of the net and quickly pushed in by Devin Rohrich.

The Ravens outshot the Raiders by four, 36-32, with Luke Newell making 34 saves in net for Rivier this evening.

The Raiders finished with their best record in their three years under first year head coach Shaun Millerick. Rivier will join the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) in the 2024-25 season.