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LANCASTER, PA - Center Steve Juskin (Jr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) shot four-of-seven from the floor and two-of-two at the free-throw line in the second half for 10 of his 11 points as the Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team overcame a 22-20 halftime deficit to take a 54-46 win over visiting McDaniel College at the Mayser Center. With the win, F&M climbs back into first place in the Centennial Conference Western Division as Johns Hopkins University routed Gettysburg College 60-36 to tie the Diplomats and Bullets for first place in the West. However, due to F&M's 63-52 home win over Gettysburg on January 18. Hopkins, which trails F&M and Gettysburg by one game, also lost to F&M in Lancaster by an 84-57 margin to trail the Diplomats and Bullets by one game. Against McDaniel, the Diplomats started slowly falling behind by eight points 11 minutes into the game. However, F&M cut the lead to two at 14-12 behind a put back by forward Bob Lynch (So., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) and four points by guard Brandon Smith (Fr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin). A three-pointer by Greg Hill and a pair of foul-shots by Will Talesnick pushed the lead back to seven points at 19-12, but a lay-up by Brandon Jones (Jr., Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Friends), a basket and foul-shot by Lynch and a three-pointer by Smith cut the Green Terror lead to 21-20 as McDaniel carried a 22-20 lead into intermission. In the second half, John Pearson hit back-to-back buckets in the opening two minutes of the game to push the lead to six before Juskin answered with a short jumper form the top of the arc. Trailing 28-22, the Diplomats reeled off a 6-0 run behind baskets and foul shots by Duran Searles (Jr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) and Lynch to tie the score at 28 before Talesnick drilled a trey for a three-point McDaniel lead. The Diplomats took over the lead for the first time in the game at the 12:35 mark as Juskin dropped in a turn around jumper for a 33-31 F&M lead, but Alan Hoyt answered with a three-pointer 47 seconds later for a 34-33 McDaniel lead. The lead failed to hold as Lynch tipped in a put back, Jones chipped in a pair of free-throws and Juskin knocked down both ends of a one-and-one and added a lay-up for an 8-0 run to build a lead the Green Terror could not overcome. McDaniel cut the lead to 44-42 with 4:29 to play, but an F&M timeout and a three-pointer by Jackiem Wright (Jr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) built the lead back to five points. Juskin added a jumper, but the Terror responded with back-to-back baskets by Adam Hynes to move within three points with 1:35 left on the clock. But a contested three by Searles at the one minute mark sealed the victory as Jones corralled a steal and a lay-up with 47 seconds left on the clock for the 54-46 final. For the Diplomats, Lynch led all scorers with 12 points on five-of-six shooting, while Smith chipped in seven points. Searles, Wright, Jones and Asaf Ganot (Sr., Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) registered six points each as seven different Diplomats scored six or more points in the game. The key to the game was foul shooting as Franklin & Marshall converted 12-of-15 opportunities, including eight-of-nine in the second half, while McDaniel made three-of-four for the game. Overall, F&M committed just five-fouls in the second half, with two calls coming in the final 42 seconds, as the Green Terror did not go to the charity stripe in the last 20 minutes of the game. Overall, both teams shot 19-of-43 from the field, while F&M held a 29-23 advantage in rebounding. For McDaniel, Greg Hill led the Terror with nine points and five rebounds. Franklin & Marshall (17-3, 6-2 Centennial Conference) will return to action on February 8 at Swarthmore College. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
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