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CARLISLE, PA - Forward Cas Thomas (Sr., Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) laid in a full court lob from guard Maurice Dozier (Sr., Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) for the winning points with 18 seconds left on the game clock as the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats held off Dickinson College, 63-61, in Centennial Conference men's basketball action. F&M, which led by as many as 10 points with nine minutes to play, would see a 27-20 halftime lead dwindle to a two point deficit six minutes into the second half when Dickinson point guard Billy Hagan drained a three-pointer from the top of the arch to put Dickinson ahead 34-32. But F&M would answer back with a 10-0 run behind Thomas who tallied four of his team high 17 points during the go-ahead spurt. Thomas finished with 11 boards to record his second double-double of the season. Dickinson cut the lead back to three with 6:52 to go as Jon Schwadron put back a missed jumper by Tony Beers to pull within striking distance. The Diplomats' Jackiem Wright (So., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) gave F&M some breathing room by drilling a three-point shot for a 48-43 lead with 6:16 left on the game clock, but the Red Devils would reel off a 10-7 run, capped by a pair of Beers' free throws, to trail the blue and white 55-53 with three minutes left to play. The two teams would exchange baskets the rest of the way before Larry Fain (Sr., Crum Lynne, PA/Chester) converted a pair of foul-shots for a 61-55 F&M lead with 40 seconds on the clock. Following a three-pointer by Brandon Karpo and subsequent timeout by the Red Devils with 18 seconds left, Dozier would catch the inbound pass, review his passing options and launched a full court pass to Thomas who streaked unguarded down the floor for an easy lay-up and a 63-58 lead. Karpo converted a three-pointer at the buzzer for the 63-61 final. Center Steve Juskin (So., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) tallied 15 points and nine rebounds, while Alex Kraft (Sr., Lansdale, PA/Lansdale Catholic) chipped in 13 points and six boards. Defensively, through 49 career games, Juskin now has 99 blocks, as he surpassed Ed Plakans '93 (91) for second all-time at the College in rejections last week. He will become the all-time leader at F&M this year as the sophomore will overtake record holder Chris Finch '92 (103) during the course of the last two regular season games and playoffs. In addition, he will reset the school single season record for most blocked shots with four more to surpass Darren Sanborn '98 who registered 53 during the 1995-96 season. To date, Juskin has tallied 50 blocks in 24 games this season, an average of 2.1 blocked shots per game.
Beers led all scorers with 22 points Overall in the Conference playoff race, Gettysburg still holds a slim advantage over F&M as the Bullets swept Johns Hopkins University, a team that defeated the Diplomats 68-61 in Baltimore. Due to the JHU victory, Gettysburg holds a one game advantage in the CC West and would win the #1 seed if both the Diplomats and Bullets sweep the remainder of their schedules. The Diplomats would host Ursinus in the CC semifinals next Wednesday if they captured the CC West's #1 seed. A # 2 seed would put Franklin & Marshall back on the road at Eastern Division #1 Muhlenberg College.
A potential F&M-Muhlenberg matchup would be a rematch of the 2001 Centennial Conference playoffs when #2 seed Muhlenberg stunned the favored #1 seeded Diplomats, 76-58 in the Mayser Center.
In action from earlier this year, the Diplomats defeated the Mules, 66-63, in Allentown on December 1, 2001, one of three Conference losses Muhlenberg has suffered in 2001-02. Franklin & Marshall (20-4, 10-2 CC) will look to improve upon its record and possibly claim sole possession of first place in the West when the Diplomats host Johns Hopkins University at the Mayser Center in the regular season finale. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. Historically, all 15 F&M men's basketball teams under head coach Glenn Robinson that won 20 games advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament.
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