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LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall opened a 10-0 lead in the first 2:57 of the first half to lead from wire to wire as the Diplomats knocked off Ursinus College 70-56 in the Centennial Conference behind a defensive gem from junior Asaf Ganot (Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly). F&M, which won the opening tip, would jump out quickly on the Bears, as Duran Searles (So., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) canned a three-pointer at 19:39 to put the Diplomats up for good. Senior Cas Thomas (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) would build upon the lead with four of F&M's next seven points as the Diplomats built a 10-0 lead before Ursinus tallied its first points off a pair of Steve Erfle free-throws. The Diplomats would hold the Bears without a field goal until the 13:51 mark when Dennis Stanton drained the first of six first half Ursinus three-pointers to cut the F&M lead to 15-5. Ursinus would get no closer than four points the rest of the way, as the Diplomats held off the Bears long range shots to hold a 33-27 lead at halftime. Ganot would do the rest for F&M as he tallied five points, corralled five rebounds and blocked four Ursinus shots to hold the Bears to a 7-of-32 shooting performance in the second half. Overall, Ganot would finish with a double-double, as he tallied 10 points and game highs in assists (seven) and rebounds (12). Searles added 10 points, while reserve guard Jackiem Wright (So., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) chipped in a team high 13 points.
Wright would lead the Diplomats offense in the second half as he drained two-of-three from three-point range as F&M connected on four-of-six treys in the last 20 minutes, eight-of-21 for the game. Two-time All-American Alex Kraft (Sr., Lansdale, PA/Lansdale Catholic) shot two-of-five from the field, one-of- three from beyond the arch, and five-of-six at the charity stripe for ten points as the Diplomats stifled the Bears offense with 12 blocked shots. In addition, F&M swiped nine steals while forcing the Bears into 19 turnovers. For Ursinus, Erfle finished with a game high 15 points off a four-of-eleven shooting performance. Dan Luciano added 14, and Dennis Stanton chipped in 11 to lead the Bears. Franklin & Marshall (22-4, 12-2 CC) will host the Centennial Conference championship game for an NCAA playoff berth on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. versus the Bullets of Gettysburg College. Gettysburg advanced to the title game courtesy a 68-59 win over East #1 seed Muhlenberg. Curtis McNeil scored a team-high 21 points, while Terence Callahan added 15 as the Bullets won for just the second time in the last 13 tries at Muhlenberg's Memorial Hall. Michael Barletta led the Mules with 13 points. The game will be a rematch of the 1996 CC title tilt as F&M knocked off Gettysburg 79-67 on their way to the NCAA Final Four. F&M would seem to have history on their side, as well, as the Diplomats have won all three of their Centennial titles in even-numbered years (1994, 1996 and 2000). Further, all 15 men's basketball teams that won 20 games advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament. Both D3Hoops.com and 89.1 WFNM (wfnm.fandm.edu) will carry the game live over the Internet, while WFNM will also cover the game over radio in Lancaster.
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