Men's Basketball Finishes Year 24-5; Wins ECAC South Region Championship Over Kings, 82-65

by Sports Information
3/3/02

LANCASTER, PA - Point guard Duran Searles (So., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) shot six-of-eight from the field, including four-of-six from beyond the arch, for a game high 20 points as the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats defeated Kings College to claim the 2002 Eastern College Athletic Conference South Region Championship.

Following a three-pointer by forward Cas Thomas (Sr., Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) to open the scoring at 19:28, Searles converted the first of four first half three-pointers to put the Diplomats ahead 6-0.

Kings answered back with a lay-up by Brian Horgan, but F&M would rattle off 6-0 and 8-0 runs to go ahead 22-4 with 13:52 left in the first half as Jackiem Wright (So., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) and Alex Kraft (Sr., Lansdale, PA/Lansdale Catholic) drained back-to-back three-pointers.

Wright finished the game with 11 points following a 24 point performance versus Lebanon Valley College in a 71-59 semifinals rout to earn ECAC Most Valuable Player of the Tournament honors.

The Monarchs would chip the lead down to eight with 1:50 left in the first half, but field goals from Thomas and Wright pushed the halftime deficit to 43-34.

In the second half, Kings cut the lead to nine with 14 minutes to play, but reserve guard Maurice Dozier (Sr., Somerdale, NJ/Sterling) hit an arching three-pointer to seal the game.

The win improves F&M's all-time record against Kings to 3-0 as the Diplomats defeated the Monarchs in 1988 and 1992. Further, the victory marks the 12th time in the last 24 years that F&M has won 24 or more games in a season, as the blue and white tallied 24 or more wins in 1979, '88, '89, '90, '91, '92, '93, '94. '95, '96 and 2000 prior to the 2002 team.

Historically, all 15 prior F&M men's basketball teams that have won 20 games have advanced to the post-season, with four teams making the NCAA Final Four. This year's team marks the first to compete in the ECAC Championships and the third squad at the College this academic year to make the ECAC championship game (Men's Soccer, Women's Basketball) in its respective sport.

Overall, Kraft, a two-time All-American and Centennial Conference Player of the Year, finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds. For his four year career, he finishes with 1,593 points, good for fourth all-time at the College and 16 short of surpassing Will Lasky '92 for third place in the program's history. He ranks among the College's career leaders in rebounds (698, fourth), three-point field goals (112, seventh), three-point percentage (40.4%, sixth) and assists (228, 11th).

Classmate Thomas finishes his career ranked among the program's best in blocked shots (100, 3rd) and rebounds (661, tied with Phil Hoeker '89). In scoring, he collected 929 career points.

Dennis Hobbs led Kings (22-7, 10-4 MAC) with 25 points off an 11-for-21 shooting performance, while Dave Marks chipped in 11 points and five boards. Brian Horgan added 10 points and five rebounds as the Monarchs shot 44.6 percent from the field in the game, just off F&M's blistering 59.2% field goal percentage.

Franklin & Marshall College concludes the year 24-5, 12-3 in the Centennial Conference. The team is slated to open the 2002-2003 season in November in the Annual S. Woodrow Sponaugle Tip-Off Tournament versus Methodist College, Marymount University and Widener University.