Diplomats Rank 15th in Nation and First in Mid-Atlantic Region in March 1 Lazindex.com Poll

by Sports Information
3/2/04

LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team is ranked 15th in the nation and first in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the March 1 Lazindex.com Power Rankings.

Ranked #9 in the March 2 D3hoops.com national poll, Franklin & Marshall (24-3, 17-1 Centennial Conference) is one of the most successful programs in the history of NCAA Division III basketball with a record of 1,122-791 record.

Four All-Centennial Conference selections have led the Diplomats this year as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) and center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) earned first team honors, while guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) and forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) earned second team honors as the Diplomats recorded the most players among the ten Conference schools.

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 captured the Centennial Conference Championship on Sunday 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 Wright 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 Searles 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, Lynch 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).

Juskin 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.

A computer generated ranking based upon record, winning percentage, strength of schedule and margin of victory in Division III games, the Lazindex is available online at www.lazindex.com.

2004 Lazindex.com National Rankings (Through March 1)
1. Hanover
2. UW-Stevens Point
3. Wooster
4. Rochester
5. Williams
6. Lawrence
7. Wheaton (IL)
8. UW-Whitewater
9. Hampden-Sydney
10. Wittenberg
11. Randolph-Macon
12. Illinois Wesleyan
13. Gustavus Adolphus
14. Trinity (TX)
15. Franklin & Marshall
16. UW-River Falls
17. Maryville (TN)
18. Buena Vista
19. Ohio Northern
20. Otterbein
21. John Carroll
22. Puget Sound
23. Amherst
24. Augustana (IL)
25. Washington (MO)

2004 Lazindex.com Regional Rankings (March 1)
1. Franklin & Marshall
2. Gwynedd Mercy
3. Catholic
4. DeSales
5. Elizabethtown