Juskin Reaches 1,000 Points as Diplomats Handle Moravian in ECAC Men's Basketball, 79-59

by Sports Information
3/5/03

LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College center Steve Juskin (Jr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) dropped in a lay-up off a feed from guard Asaf Ganot (Sr., Tenalfy, NJ/Tenafly) with 4:52 to play for his 1,000th point as the Diplomats defeated Moravian College 79-59 in the opening round of the eight team ECAC South Region Championship Tournament.

Overall, Juskin became the 26th member of the 1,000-point club and just the ninth player in school history to record career totals of 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. In his career, Juskin now has 1,000 points, 528 rebounds and a school record 210 blocked shots. He is now two blocked shots away from resetting the Centennial Conference career record as he is one behind current record holder Cam Scribner '04 of Haverford College.

Juskin was one of four Diplomats to reach double-figures as Bob Lynch (So., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) scored 15, guard Brandon Smith (Fr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) added 12 and guard Jackiem Wright (Jr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) drained six-of-11, including four-of-seven from three point range, for a game high 19 points.

The game see-sawed for the opening 13 minutes of play as the two teams were tied at 22-22 with 6:44 left in the first half by the Diplomats used back-to-back baskets to take a four point lead at 26-22.

Moravian's Brandon Zaleski answered with a pair of free-throws to cut the lead to two, but Juskin converted on three field goal attempts for six points to ignite an 8-0 run to go ahead for good. Moravian tacked on a basket with under a minute to play until halftime, but Wright and point guard Duran Searles (Jr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) converted on pairs of free-throws for a 38-26 lead at intermission.

Moravian cut the lead to six with 14:22 to play in the game at 43-37 behind an 11-5 run to open the second half, but three consecutive three-pointers by Wright between 13:20 and 11:59 pushed the lead up to 52-37 as the Greyhounds failed to cut the lead beyond 11 points the rest of the way.

For Moravian, Brandon Zaleski led three Greyhounds in double-digits as he made three-of-12 and seven-of-eight at the free-throw lien for 13 points. Geoff Wendel and Kevin Wyers both added 11 points as the Greyhounds conclude their season at 16-11.

The key to the game was defense as the Diplomats limited Moravian to an 11-of-37 in the second half (29.7 percent), while blocking nine shots and pulling down 30 defensive boards in the game.

The game marked F&M's 14th 20+ point victory of the season, as the Diplomats are defeating opponents by an average of 18.5 points per game, among the best margins of victory in the nation.

Franklin & Marshall (23-5) will continue the season on Saturday, March 8 at home versus Neumann College at 4:00 p.m. in the semifinals of the ECAC Tournament. The Knights defeated host Grove City College 75-61 to advance to face the #1 seeded Diplomats in Lancaster.

In the other semifinal game, #2 seed DeSales University will take to the court at 2:00 p.m. in the Mayser Center versus Penn State-Behrend. Behrend advanced with a 99-77 win over Thiel College, while DeSales advanced to the game with an 81-65 win over College Misericordia at home. The game was significant for the fact that Misericordia guard Willie Chandler entered the contest with 2,877 career points needing 64 points to surpass Salisbury's State Andre Foreman as the all-time leading scorer in Division III history. Chandler finished the contest with 21 off seven-of-15 from the field, two-of-seven behind the arc and five-of-six at the line with a game high seven rebounds to conclude his career with 2,898 points.

The ECAC title game will take place on Sunday, March 9 in Franklin & Marshall College's Mayser Center. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.