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LANCASTER, PA - Guard Jackiem Wright (Jr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) shot 12-of-21 from the field, including six-of-12 from three-point range, for 34 points to earn Most Valuable Player honors as Franklin & Marshall College (8-1) handled Lincoln University of Pennsylvania (2-7) 91-60 to win the 2003 Lancaster Rotary Tip-Off the New Year Tournament, presented by Lancaster General Hospital. Over the two-day tournament, Wright scored 50 points, including 16 points versus St. Mary's College of Maryland (1-6) in a 112-67 opening round victory, to lead all scorers. In addition, Wright's 34-point performance marked a career high, eclipsing a 30-point game from a 93-70 rout of Muhlenberg College on December 7, 2002. Leading 39-25 at halftime behind 15 first half points from Wright, the Diplomats' lead expanded to 54-29 as F&M opened the second half with a 15-4 run to seal the victory with 15:10 left on the clock.
Joining Wright on the All-Tournament team were forwards Bob
Lynch (So., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) and Asaf Ganot (Sr.,
Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly).
Ganot added nine points and 10 rebounds against Lincoln, while Lynch registered 14 points and nine rebounds to pace the Diplomats offense.
On the defensive glass, center Steve Juskin (Jr., East Hanover,
NJ/Hanover Park) blocked a season high eight shots and pulled
down six defensive rebounds as he finished the game with 11
boards and 10 points to fall two blocked shots short of recording
his third career collegiate triple-double.
For Lincoln, Lee Fowler connected on 10-of-14 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Lions. Historically, F&M is 3-0 in Rotary Tournament Championship games versus Lincoln as the Lions fell 90-66 in 1997 and 92-79 in 2000. Further, the game marked the fourth straight year that F&M and Lincoln met in the Rotary Tournament as the Diplomats downed the Lions in the first round 88-57 in 2001 and 67-59 in 2002 on their way to the title. In the consolation game, St. Mary's (1-7) Ben Stewart shot seven-of-eight at the free-throw line and three-of-10 from the field for a game high 16 points to earn All-Tournament honors, but St. John Fisher's (7-1) Aaron Berwanger scored 13 points and pulled down 11 boards to make the All-Tournament team and lead the Cardinals to a 70-61 victory. Overall, St. John's led for all but 65 seconds of the game as St. Mary's Jon Neeley scored the first basket of the game, but St. Johns answered with a 7-0 run to take the lead for good on the way to their seventh victory in eight games. Franklin & Marshall (8-1, 1-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on Tuesday, January 7 at home versus Goucher College. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Presented by Lancaster General Hospital, the 2003 Tip-Off the New Year Tournament was sponsored by the benefit of the Lancaster Community by the Rotary Club of Lancaster.
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