#9 Franklin & Marshall to Host #6 Hampden-Sydney in NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Second Round

by Sports Information
3/4/04

LANCASTER, PA -- The #9 nationally ranked Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball now knows who they will play on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Mayser Center as #6 Hampden-Sydney College survived to hold off visiting Elizabethtown College 74-71 in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball playoffs.

For F&M (24-3), the clash with Hampden-Sydney (25-4) signifies a battle of two of the nation's best teams.

The game has significant historical relevance as in the 101-year history of basketball at F&M, the Hampden-Sydney and the 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.

The NCAA berth comes one year following the Tigers second NCAA Final Four appearance in five years (1999 & 2003) as first year head coach Bubba Smith leads Hampden-Sydney.

One of the youngest head coaches in the nation, Smith graduated in 2000 from Furman University before spending three years assisting the College’s all-time wins leader Tony Shaver, who left after 17 years to become the head coach at the College of William and Mary.

Down the sideline, legendary F&M coach Glenn Robinson will match wits with Smith as the Franklin & Marshall College head men enters the game with an NCAA record of 672-234.

The NCAA Division III men's basketball career wins record holder after surpassing former Illinois Wesleyan head coach Dennie Bridges with a 75-52 St. Valentine's Day win over Muhlenberg College in Mayser, he stands 12th among all active NCAA coaches in victories and has already surpassed legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (664-112) for 25th on the all-time list.

In his 33rd year at F&M, Robinson was named the Basketball Times Division III "Coach of the Year" in 1991 for leading the Diplomats to the NCAA title game. He has earned conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) regional "Coach of the Year" honors 11 times.

Currently, he holds the eighth best winning percentage in NCAA history as his mark of .742 has been bettered by only Kentucky's Adolph Rupp (.822), UCLA's John Wooden (.804), UNLV/Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian (.784), North Carolina's Dean Smith (.776), Duke's Mike Krzyewski (.745), Northern State's Don Meyer (.743) and Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (.743).

Historically, his teams have comprised one of the most successful programs in the history of NCAA Division III basketball with a record of 1,122-783 record.

This year, Franklin & Marshall has been led by the play of its starting five players of point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School), center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park), guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends), forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) and guard/forward Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin).

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 and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the 19th in the history of men's basketball at the College (1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986-1996, 1999 and 2000). On the highest levels of the national stage, Franklin & Marshall has made four Final Fours (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000).

Leading the team to the title was Smith who 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).

Tickets are currently on sale at Franklin & Marshall's Mayser Center for the Saturday matchup. 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.