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LANCASTER, PA - Tickets for the March 6 NCAA men's basketball second round game in the Mayser Center between #11 Franklin & Marshall and the winner of a first round game between #8 Hampden-Sydney and Elizabethtown College will go on sale beginning at noon on Wednesday, March 3 in the front lobby of Mayser. Ticket sales will run from noon until 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Prices are set at $4 for general admission and $3 for students, senior citizens and children over two years old. Children under two years of age will be admitted free of charge. Only cash will be accepted for tickets (no checks, credit cards or money orders will be accepted) and all sales are final as the Diplomats and their to be determined opponent will tip-off at 7:00 p.m. in Mayser. F&M (24-3, 17-1 Centennial Conference), which clinched the 2004 Centennial Conference Championship with a 69-58 win over Johns Hopkins University in the Mayser Center, will look to advance to the NCAA "Sweet 16" scheduled for March 12-13 at a site to be determined. Overall, the tournament berth marks the 19th in the history of men's basketball at the College as the team earned NCAA bids in 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986-1996, 1999 and 2000, including appearances in four Final Fours (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000). Elizabethtown enters the tournament courtesy a 61-54 win at Widener to capture the Commonwealth Conference title. This season marks the third year in a row the Blue Jays have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Historically, F&M is 34-12 all-time against the Bluejays since their first meeting in 1931. In NCAA competition, the Diplomats hold a 2-0 edge as Franklin & Marshall ended Etown's season in 1993 in the opening round (78-64 W) and 1979 in the sectionals (60-59 W at Albright). Further, in the 101-year history of basketball at F&M, the Hampden-Sydney Tigers and Diplomats have never met on the basketball court. The Tigers enter the tournament for the 12th time overall and eighth year in a row after securing the automatic bid by winning the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in a 75-69 victory over Virginia Wesleyan on February 23. Both Elizabethtown and Hampden-Sydney are coming off relative recent success in the NCAA Tournament as the Tigers are coming off their second Final Four in five years (2003, 1999), while the Jays advanced to the Final Four in 2002. On Thursday, March 4, Hampden-Sydney will host Elizabethtown to determine the Diplomats' opponent. A complete NCAA Tournament bracket is available online at www.ncaasports.com or at D3hoops.com.
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