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LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats will host Gettysburg College at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 23 in the Centennial Conference men's basketball championship game. The time is a change from the previously announced 4:00 p.m. tip-off as the 2002 Conference rules state that; "the championship game shall begin at 2 p.m. unless special circumstances require a change." The game will be a battle of the Western Division as the #1 seeded Diplomats face the #2 Bullets, a team F&M defeated 59-44 in the Mayser Center on February 6th. Franklin & Marshall (22-4, 12-2 CC) advanced to the title tilt with a 70-56 win over Ursinus College in the CC semifinals, while Gettysburg (19-6, 11-3 CC) knocked off East #1 seed Muhlenberg 68-59. For the Diplomats, Duran Searles (So., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) canned a three-pointer just 21 seconds into the game 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. 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. Guard Asaf Ganot (Jr., Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) 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. Against Muhlenberg, Gettysburg's Curtis McNeil scored a team-high 21 points and Terence Callahan added as the Bullets advanced to their third conference championship game. For the Bullets, the win marks just the second victory in Gettysburg's last 13 tries at Muhlenberg's Memorial Hall as the squad's only other victory in Allentown over the past 15 years came in last season’s CC title game by an identical 68-59 score. The F&M-Gettysburg championship 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 F&M men's basketball teams that won 20 games have advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament. F&M, ranked 10th by Basketball America and 16th in the latest D3Hoops.com polls, are currently picked fourth in the Mid-Atlantic Region, while Gettysburg is sixth. The two teams split their regular season meetings as the Bullets outshot the Diplomats in the final minute of play for a 79-69 win at home on January 12, while Franklin & Marshall routed Gettysburg 59-44 in Lancaster on February 6. In their meeting in Lancaster, Ganot set a career high with seven steals and six blocked shots as the then #15 ranked Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats held #23 Gettysburg to 17 second half points. Overall, F&M would trail for only 11 seconds in the game as Gettysburg's Terence Callahan opened the scoring with a basket at the 18:57 mark. Thomas would answer with a three-pointer to jump start a 7-0 run to put the Diplomats ahead for good. Leading 29-22 following a jump-shot by Searles, Gettysburg closed the half on a 5-0 run as Callahan drained a three and Jim Natale put back a missed shot to close within striking distance of the Diplomats. In the second half, F&M would shut down the Bullets offense holding Gettysburg scoreless for 6:28 while engineering a 12-0 run behind Searles. The sophomore guard scored six straight off a pair of field goals and two free throws in the opening 2:21 of the half as the Diplomats cut off the passing lanes and smothered the Gettysburg offense. Leading 42-29 following a jumper by McNeil, F&M would rattle off nine straight points, five coming off a pair of lay-ups and a foul shot by center Steve Juskin (So., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park), to go up by 22 with 8:53 left to play. The Bullets would reel off six straight points, but the Diplomats would hold the ball and run out the clock to take the win. For Gettysburg, McNeil had five points, 30 shy of his performance in the Bullets win at home in which he tallied 35, the second highest single game total in the Centennial Conference this year. Callahan led the Bullets with 19 points, while Jim Natale added five rebounds, as Gettysburg was outrebounded 37-24 by the Diplomats, including a 22-8 deficit in the second half. Historically, this year marks the 100th year of basketball between F&M and Gettysburg with the Bullets holding a 100-82 advantage. Of the last nine meetings, F&M has come out victorious in seven, including five straight at Mayser. Thus, home court advantage could play a major role in the championship game outcome as Gettysburg has not defeated F&M in Mayser since 1997 (85-67). The history of F&M's dominance ver Gettysburg in Lancaster dates back to the original games between the two schools as the Nevonians, as F&M was then known, held off the Bullets 47-9 in Lancaster on February 19, but fell 65-18 in Gettysburg during the 1902-1903 season. 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 via radio in Lancaster. Per Centennial Conference rules an admission charge will be assessed at each round of the Conference tournament. Students of Franklin & Marshall and Gettysburg are admitted free with presentation of ID, adults (18 & Over) are $4.00, students (13-18 without ID) are $2 and youth (12 and under) are free.
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