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LANCASTER, PA - Guard/forward Asaf Ganot (Sr., Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) scored 10 points, blocked four shots, dished out three assists and pulled down seven rebounds to spark #15 nationally ranked Franklin & Marshall College to a 63-52 win over Gettysburg College in Centennial Conference men's basketball action at the Mayser Center. With the win, F&M moves into a three-way tie with Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins University for first place in the Centennial Conference West. However, Johns Hopkins lost at Gettysburg 70-53 on December 12, leaving the Diplomats as the only top-three team without a loss in the Centennial Conference Western Division.
Overall, F&M never trailed on the night, taking a quick 5-0
lead on a put-back by Frank Hughes (Sr., Annapolis, MD/US
Naval Academy) and the first of four 3-pointers by Duran Searles
(Jr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) in the opening 1:27. Searles
added another three-pointer to make it 8-2 and Jackiem Wright
(Jr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) stroked a triple
to make it 11-4.
Gettysburg rallied as Doug Loveland made a basket and Todd Brady converted a pair of free-throws to cut it to 11-8 before F&M guard Brandon Jones (Jr., Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Friends) drove down the lane and flipped in a lay-up to raise the lead to five. The key to the half was the play of Gettysburg College forward David Glaser. On the bench following his second foul at the 15:51 mark, Glaser was forced back into the game at 12:35 when starting center Brad Billmeier left the game with an injury and did not return to the lineup following a basket to cut the lead to 13-10. On Gettysburg’s next possession, Glaser, who entered the game averaging 18.8 points per contest, was called for a charge and spent the rest of the half on the bench. With Glaser out of the lineup, Hughes sliced through the middle for a lay-up and guard Brandon Smith (Fr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) dropped in a three-pointer from in front of the Gettysburg bench to push the lead back to 18-10. The Bullets responded as Dami Oloruntoba made a pair of free throws and Kyle Jakobe a triple to cut the lead back to 18-15. Lacking an inside presence, F&M center Steve Juskin and Ganot engineered a 6-0 run as Juskin made the front end of a one-and-one and caressed a turn-around jumper on the Diplomats' next possession for a 21-15 lead. Ganot made a bucket and was fouled on a three-point play for a 24-15 margin. Jakobe added a lay-up, Ryan Page drained a trey and Oloruntoba made a short jumper in a 7-2 run as the Bullets' trailed 26-22 at the half. Oloruntoba scored on a backdoor lay-up 37 seconds into the half to cut the lead to two, but the Bullets' failed to tie the score the rest of the way. Juskin arched in two jumpers and Searles made an uncontested lay-up to ignite an 8-0 Diplomat run that made it 34-24 with 17:08 left. The key to the half for F&M was defense as the blue and white shut-down the Bullets' offense scoreless for 3 minutes, 28 seconds before Doug Loveland converted a pair of free throws to pull within 34-26. Seventeen seconds later, Searles notched his third three-pointer of the day to return the lead to double digits. Glaser and Reggie Davis' three-pointers cut the lead to 39-32, but Searles restored order with his fourth trey for a 42-32 edge with 12:02 to play, but Gettysburg would get no closer than seven in the final minutes to fall to 7-9, 3-1 in Centennial Conference play. Glaser finished the game with seven rebounds and nine points, while Oloruntoba led the Bullets in rebounding (11) and scoring, tying with Loveland who also scored 10 points. For F&M, Hughes recorded eight points and eight rebounds, while Juskin added 11 points and two blocked shots. Franklin & Marshall (13-2, 3-1 Centennial Conference) will return to action on January 22 at Lincoln University in the two teams second meeting of the year. In their first meeting on January 4, Juskin blocked eight shots to power the Diplomats to a 91-60 win in the title game of the Rotary Tip-Off the New Year Tournament at home in the Mayser Center. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Lincoln, Pennsylvania.
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