Diplomats Move to Ninth in March 2 D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
3/2/04

LANCASTER, PA - The 2004 Centennial Conference Champion Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team received 423 votes to rank ninth in the March 2 D3hoops.com Division III Men's Basketball poll.

The recognition continues a string of national accolades for the Diplomats as F&M was ranked 29th on December 23, 27th on January 6, 25th on December 2, 22nd on January 13, 19th on December 9, 18th on November 25th, December 16th and February 10, 17th on January 20, 15th on January 27, 14th on February 3 and February 17 and 11th on February 24.

Overall, Franklin & Marshall is the only Centennial Conference team to receive votes in the poll and is the highest ranked team from the Mid-Atlantic Region placing nine spots better than #18 Gwynedd-Mercy.

Selected as a "Team to Watch" in the 2003-04 edition of Street & Smith's College Basketball, an annual dedicated to highlighting the upcoming college basketball season, the Diplomats are 24-3 overall, 17-1 in Centennial Conference play, as the team captured the Centennial Conference Championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

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).

Leading the team to the title was guard/forward Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) made six-of-12 field goal attempts, including four-of-six from beyond the arc, for 16 points with five steals to earn March 1 Centennial Conference Player of the Week honors as the team shot 23-of-51 from the field (45.1%) and seven-of-17 from three-point range (41.2%) to outlast Johns Hopkins University 69-58 for the title.

Against Gettysburg College in the semifinals, Smith starred as he pulled down a game high eight rebounds while tallying six points and two steals to key the Diplomats to a 75-49 rout of the Bullets on February 28.

In the regular season finale on February 24 at Johns Hopkins, he registered six points with five rebounds and two steals in a 67-63 nailbiter.

In the latest Centennial Conference statistics for the 2004 season, he ranks among the CC leaders in scoring (23rd, 11.0 ppg), rebounding (15th, 5.7 rpg), steals (second, 2.07 spg), three point field goal percentage (ninth, .388), three point field goals made (14th, 1.48 pg), blocked shots (14th, 0.63 bpg), offensive rebounds (15th, 1.81 rpg) and defensive rebounds (13th, 3.93 rpg).

Individually the Diplomats starting "five" rank a top the conference as guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) ranks in scoring (18th, 12.2 ppg), steals (seventh, 1.63 spg), three point field goal percentage (15th, .348) and three point field goals made (third, 2.41 pg) and point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) ranks in scoring (13th, 13.8 ppg), field goal percentage (seventh, .531), assists (fourth, 3.59 apg), steals (third, 1.85 spg), three point field goal percentage (third, .429), three point field goals made (seventh, 2.11 pg), assist/turnover ratio (third, 1.54)

Down low, forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) ranks in scoring (eighth, 15.8 ppg), rebounding (sixth, 6.9 rpg), field goal percentage (second, .596), free throw percentage (13th, .762), blocked shots (eighth, 0.81 bpg) and offensive rebounds (second, 3.30 rpg).

Preseason All-America center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) ranks in scoring (11th, 14.6 ppg), rebounding (ninth, 6.3 rpg), field goal percentage (eighth, .520), assists (fifth, 3.52 apg), blocked shots (first, 3.78 bpg), assist/turnover ratio (eighth, 1.13), offensive rebounds (12th, 1.89 rpg) and defensive rebounds (eighth, 4.41 rpg)

Off the bench, reserve guard Logan Outerbridge (Fr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) ranks in steals (12th, 1.33 spg).

As a team the Diplomats rank among the CC leaders in scoring defense (first, 62.9 ppg), scoring margin (first, +18.4 ppg), field goal percentage (first, .501), field goal percentage defense (first, .411), three point field goal percentage (first, .377), rebounding defense (first, 29.7 rpg), rebounding margin (first, +6.6 rpg), blocked shots (first, 6.04 bpg), assists (first, 16.78 apg), steals (first, 9.67 spg), turnover margin (first, 4.41), assist/turnover ratio (first, 1.14), offensive rebounds (first, 12.81 rpg), scoring offense (second, 81.3 ppg), three point field goals made (third, 7.41 pg), rebounding offense (third, 37.3 rpg), defensive rebounds (fourth, 24.44 rpg).

The Diplomats will continue the season at 7:00 p.m. on March 6 at home in the Mayser Center in an NCAA second round game versus the winner of a March 4 first round game between Elizabethtown and #6 Hampden-Sydney.

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.

D3Hoops.com is widely considered the preeminent source of information on Division III basketball in the electronic medium. D3hoops has appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Hartford Courant and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among other publications.

D3hoops.com 2003-04 Division III Top 25 (March 2)
Rank Team (1st Place Votes) 2003-04 Record Pts.
1. Williams (23) 26-1 623
2. Hanover (2) 26-1 590
3. Rochester 24-1 575
4. Wooster 24-3 535
5. Amherst 24-3 523
6. Hampden-Sydney 24-4 482
7. Wittenberg 24-4 462
8. Puget Sound 23-2 456
9. Franklin & Marshall 24-3 423
10. UW-Stevens Point 23-5 372
11. Wheaton (IL) 21-4 344
12. Trinity (TX) 24-4 293
13. John Carroll 22-5 284
14. Randolph-Macon 22-4 276
15. Buena Vista 24-4 249
16. Trinity (CT) 21-4 230
17. Hope 21-5 213
18. Gwynedd-Mercy 25-2 202
19. Illinois Wesleyan 19-6 185
20. Gustavus Adolphus 22-5 157
21. UW-River Falls 20-7 144
22. Maryville (TN) 22-5 122
23. Lawrence 21-4 97
24. Catholic 23-5 71
25. DeSales 22-4 48

Others receiving votes: Salem State 32, UW-Whitewater 25, Lasell 23, Keene State 22, Washington U. 16, New Jersey City 13, Plymouth State 10, Babson 7, UW-Oshkosh 4, Penn State-Behrend 4, Endicott 4, Whitworth 3, Lycoming 3, Virginia Wesleyan 2, Wartburg 2, UW-Platteville 1.