Men's Basketball Moves to 11th in Week 2 NABC Division III Poll

by Sports Information
1/28/03

LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College men’s basketball team received 46 votes to rank 11th in the January 29 National Association of Basketball Coaches Division III Poll.

Ranked #15 in the D3Hoops.com poll, the Diplomats are one of two Centennial Conference team to receive national recognition as Johns Hopkins (13-3, 4-1 Centennial Conference) is ranked 20th. Last week, F&M was ranked 18th with 24 votes, while Hopkins was 24th.

One of the most successful intercollegiate basketball programs in Division III history, Franklin & Marshall is off to an 15-2 start 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).

Off the bench, guard Brandon Smith (Fr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) and forward Bob Lynch (So., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) have been offensive sparks for the Diplomats as the pair are averaging 9.4 and 9.9 points per game, respectively.

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.

NABC 2002-03 Division III National Poll
Rank Team Record Pts.
1 Washington (Mo.) 16-0 100
2 Hampden-Sydney 16-0 94
3 Wooster 16-1 91
4 Nazareth 13-2 77
5 Catholic 15-2 75
6 Ramapo 15-2 65
7 Randolph-Macon 17-1 64
8 Amherst 15-2 62
9 Williams 14-1 61
10 St. Thomas 13-3 50
11 Franklin & Marshall 15-2 46
12 Rockford 18-2 45
13 Hanover 17-1 36
14 William Paterson 14-3 34
15 Stevens Point 15-2 22
16 Whitworth 15-2 20
17 Babson 15-2 17
18 Capital 13-4 16
19 Rochester 13-3 13
20 Johns Hopkins 13-3 10

Others receiving votes: Christopher Newport, Hamilton, Calvin, Wesleyan, John Carroll