Diplomats Rank 23rd in Week 9 D3Hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
2/4/03

LANCASTER, PA - The Franklin & Marshall College men’s basketball team received 98 votes to rank #23 in the D3Hoops.com Top 25 Division III Men's Basketball poll for the period of January 28-February 3.

The Diplomats (16-3, 5-2 Centennial Conference) are one of three Centennial Conference team to receive national recognition as Johns Hopkins (13-5, 4-3 CC) picked up seven votes to rank 31st, while Ursinus (13-6, 7-0 CC) tallied one vote to rank 44th.

One of the most successful intercollegiate basketball programs in Division III history, Franklin & Marshall routed Hopkins (84-57), but lost to Washington (96-86) 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 February 3 Centennial Conference Honor Roll, Juskin averaged 22.5 points, eight rebounds and three blocks last week.

Against Hopkins, he dropped in 17 points and 11 rebounds, including 10 defensive boards, as the #15 ranked Diplomats routed the #18 nationally ranked Blue Jays. On Saturday, he added 28 points, five boards and three blocked shots as the Diplomats slipped to second place in the Centennial Conference West with a 5-2 Conference record following the loss to Washington.

In addition, he raised his season block total to 63 to reset his own F&M season record of 59 established in 2002.

For his career, Juskin now has 880 points, 461 rebounds, 171 blocked shots and 123 assists in 73 games.

On the season, he ranks among the Centennial Conference leaders in scoring (16.1, sixth), rebounding (7.4, seventh), blocked shots (3.32, first), assists (2.47, 15th), offensive rebounds (2.11, 10th) and defensive rebounds (5.32, fifth).

A defensive presence, Ganot is among the CC leaders in rebounding (8.0, sixth), field goal percentage (.500, 13th), assists (4.16, third), steals (1.63, fifth), blocked shots (1.79, third), assist/turnover ratio (2.93, first), offensive rebounds (2.68, sixth) and defensive rebounds (5.32, fifth).

For his career, Ganot now has 105 blocked shots, to second behind Juskin (167) in F&M history. On the year, Ganot has been a one-man statistical machine racking up 152 rebounds, 79 assists, 34 blocks, 31 steals, 171 points, a .500 shooting percentage (61-122) and a .405 average from three-point range (17-42)

As a team the Diplomats rank among the CC's best in scoring offense (87.0, first), scoring defense (66.1, first), scoring margin (+20.9, first), free throw percentage (.706, third), field goal percentage (.496, first), field goal percentage defense (.401, first), three-point field goal percentage (.402, first), three-point field goals made (6.89, third), three-point field goal percentage defense (.310, third), rebounding offense (42.5, first), rebounding defense (33.6, second), rebounding margin (+8.9, first), blocked shots (7.32, first), assists (17.63, first), steals (9.84, first), turnover margin (+3.63, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.18, first), offensive rebounds (14.21, third) and defensive rebounds (28.32, second).

F&M (16-3, 5-2 CC) will continue the season on February 5 at home versus McDaniel College in a 7:30 p.m. game.

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) 18-0 625
2 Hampden-Sydney 18-0 600
3 Randolph Macon 18-1 562
4 Catholic 17-2 540
5 Illinois Wesleyan 15-2 510
6 Wooster 18-2 503
7 Williams 17-1 471
8 UW-Stevens Point 17-2 444
9 Hope 16-3 408
10 Hanover 18-1 404
11 Rochester 15-3 354
12 Amherst 16-3 326
13 Christopher Newport 16-2 324
14 Whitworth 17-2 296
15 UW-Whitewater 15-4 241
16 UW-Oshkosh 15-4 223
17 Mary Washington 16-2 179
18 Ramapo 17-2 159
19 Wheaton (IL) 14-3 153
20 Carthage 12-5 135
21 Capital 15-4 129
22 St. Thomas 14-4 116
23 Franklin & Marshall 16-3 98
24 Rockford 20-2 86
25 Babson 17-2 62

Others receiving votes: Augustana 42; Buena Vista 27; Montclair State 25; UW-Stout 24; Savannah Art & Design 13; Johns Hopkins 7; Clark 6; Pitt-Bradford 6; John Carroll 5; Willamette 5; Albion 3; William Paterson 3; Wittenberg 3; Kalamazoo 2; Scranton 2; Lawrence 1; Occidental 1; Plymouth State 1; Ursinus 1