F&M Moves to #15 in January 28 D3Hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Informtion
1/28/03

LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College received 239 votes to move up four spots to #15 in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 Division III Men's Basketball poll for the period of January 21-27.

The Diplomats (15-2) are one of two Centennial Conference team to receive national recognition as Johns Hopkins (13-3) picked up 172 votes to rank 18th.

One of the most successful intercollegiate basketball programs in Division III history, Franklin & Marshall picked up wins over Lincoln (83-59) and Dickinson (90-68) last week.

Leading the Diplomats has been the duo of junior center Steve Juskin (East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) and senior forward/guard Asaf Ganot (Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly).

A member of the January 27 Centennial Conference Honor Roll, Juskin averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and 4.5 blocks to pace the squad last week.

Against Lincoln, Juskin scored 10 points, pulled down 12 boards, dished out four assists, blocked four shots and grabbed two steals. Against Dickinson, he added 16 points, wrestled away 8 rebounds, dished out two assists, blocked five shots and picked two steals as the Diplomats improved to 4-1 in Centennial Conference play.

For his career, Juskin now has 835 points, 445 rebounds, 167 blocked shots, 118 assists and 50 steals in 71 games.

On the season, he ranks among the Centennial Conference leaders in scoring (15.3, eighth), rebounding (7.4, eighth), blocks (3.47, first) and offensive rebounds (2.12, 11th).

A defensive presence, Ganot is among the CC leaders in rebounding (8.2, sixth), field goal percentage (.519, 12th), assists (4.06, fourth), steals (1.65, sixth), blocked shots (1.76, third), assist/turnover ratio (3.14, first), offensive rebounds (2.82, sixth) and defensive rebounds (5.41, fourth).

For his career, Ganot now has 101 blocked shots, to rank third behind two-time All-America pick Chris Finch '92 (103) and school record holder Juskin (167). On the year, Ganot has been a one-man stat machine racking up 140 rebounds, 69 assists, 30 blocks, 28 steals, 149 points, a .519 shooting percentage (54-104) and a .417 average from three-point range (15-36)

As a team the Diplomats rank among the CC's best in scoring offense (87.2, first), scoring defense (64.8, first), scoring margin (+22.4, first), free throw percentage (.706, third), field goal percentage (.500, first), field goal percentage defense (.397, first), three-point field goal percentage (.417, first), three-point field goal percentage defense (.303, first), rebounding offense (42.8, first), rebounding defense (33.1, second), rebounding margin (+9.7, first), blocked shots (7.47, first), assists (18.00, first), steals (9.71, first), turnover margin (+3.59, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.19, first), offensive rebounds (14.18, third), defensive rebounds (28.65, second) and three point field goals made (7.24, third) per game.

F&M will continue the season on January 29 at home versus Johns Hopkins University in a 7:30 p.m. game.

The contest will be broadcast via the Internet at D3Hoops.com as the Diplomats and the Blue Jays will take to the court in a game that has significant ramifications on the Centennial Conference playoff picture.

The Blue Jays will be looking to keep pace with F&M and Gettysburg as all three teams are 4-1 in the Centennial Conference with the top two squads advancing to the Centennial Conference playoffs.

The game will be available at http://www.d3hoops.com/audio/

D3Hoops.com is widely considered the preeminent source of information on Division III basketball in the electronic medium. D3hoops has appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Hartford Courant and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among other publications.

D3 Hoops.com 2002-03 Division III Top 25 (Week 8 Poll)
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) Record Pts.
1 Washington U. (25) 16-0 625
2 Hampden-Sydney 16-0 600
3 Randolph Macon 17-1 558
4 Catholic 15-2 546
5 Illinois Wesleyan 14-2 495
6 Wooster 16-1 491
7 Williams 14-1 456
8 Amherst 15-2 444
9 UW-Stevens Point 15-2 385
10 Hope 14-3 383
11 UW-Whitewater 14-3 373
12 Hanover 17-1 372
13 Rochester 13-3 310
14 St. Thomas 13-3 268
15 Franklin & Marshall 15-2 239
16 Christopher Newport 13-2 235
17 Whitworth 15-2 180
18 Johns Hopkins 13-3 172
19 Augustana 13-3 132
20 UW-Oshkosh 14-4 127
21 Carthage 10-5 100
22 Mary Washington 14-2 93
23 Capital 13-4 71
24 Nazareth 13-2 68
25 UW-Stout 12-5 64

Others receiving votes: Montclair State 61; Ramapo 52; Wheaton 46; Rockford 42; Babson 29; Wittenberg 20; Kalamazoo 17; Baruch 13; William Paterson 13; Savannah Art & Design 11; Scranton 10; Buena Vista 8; Clark 5; Virginia Wesleyan 4; John Carroll 2; Rowan 2; Wabash 2; Maryville 1