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LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College is ranked among the nation's best Division III teams in the February 24 NCAA Men's Basketball statistics for games through February 23. Franklin & Marshall is ranked in scoring defense (63.2, 24th), scoring margin (19.0 ppg, fourth), field goal percentage (49.2, 17th), field goal percentage defense (39.8, 27th), three-point field goal percentage (40.8, 10th), rebound margin (8.3 rpg, 14th) and winning percentage (84.0, 17th). Individually, center Steve Juskin (Jr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) rates eighth in the NCAA with 3.4 blocked shots per game, while guard Jackiem Wright (Jr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) is 17th in three-point field goal percentage with an average of 45.1 percent through the Diplomats 25 regular season games. On Wednesday, Juskin tied a school record with 10 blocked shots as the Diplomats erased the team blocks record with 19 swats as Franklin & Marshall College opened the 2003 Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Playoffs with a 92-62 rout of Washington College in the Mayser Center. Juskin's total tied his own school record set on November 20, 2001 in an 83-80 win over Elizabethtown College. In that game, Juskin blocked 10 shots, scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Diplomats handled the eventual Division III title game runner-ups. Further, the team's mark of 19 blocks erased the previous school record of 16 also established against the Blue Jays. For Juskin, the game was a career defining contest as the 6-6 center raised his career numbers to 202 blocks, 980 points and 512 rebounds as he is on pace to become the ninth player in F&M men's basketball history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in a career. In addition, he raised his school single season blocked shot record to 94, 35 more than his previous F&M record of 59 established last season. Historically, F&M will enter the Centennial Conference title game at Ursinus College, a 78-62 winner over Johns Hopkins University, looking for revenge. In the only regular season meeting between the two teams, Ursinus rallied from a 17-point deficit in the final 10 minutes to win an 83-82 upset over the Diplomats. Ursinus, which is ranked #1 in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and F&M, #5 in the region and #20 in the nation, will square off for the sixth time in Collegeville and the second consecutive year in the Centennial Conference playoffs. Last year, F&M routed the Bears 70-56 in the CC semifinals at the Mayser Center on their way to the Centennial Conference title game and the ECAC South Region Championship. In the previous five meetings between the two schools as members of the Centennial Conference, F&M holds a 4-1 advantage as Ursinus held off the Diplomats 89-82 during the 2000 regular season as F&M advanced to the Centennial Conference title and NCAA Final Four. In their last meeting in Collegeville, Franklin & Marshall handled Ursinus 52-46 during the regular season as the Diplomats hold a 10.2 point per game advantage over the course of the series' contests in Helfferich Hall. Game time for the Centennial Conference title tilt is set for 4:00 p.m.
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