Franklin & Marshall Remains #1 in NCAA Mid-Atlantic Region Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
2/18/04

LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team is ranked first in the February 18 NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Poll.

Ranked #14 in the February 17 D3hoops.com and Lazindex.com national polls, the Diplomats are the only Centennial Conference team ranked in the region as the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference's Alvernia (#2) and Gwynedd Mercy (#3), Middle Atlantic Corporation's DeSales (#4) and Elizabethtown (#5) and Capital Athletic Conference's Catholic (#6) round out the region's top six.

One of the most successful programs in the history of NCAA Division III basketball, Franklin & Marshall is off to a 19-3 start, including a 14-1 mark in Centennial Conference play.

Center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) led the team last week as he averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks as the Diplomats defeated Dickinson (88-44 W) and Muhlenberg (75-52 W) at home in the Mayser Center to clinch home court advantage for the Centennial Conference Playoff Tournament on February 28 & 29.

Against Dickinson, Juskin chipped in 20 points, five rebounds, four blocked shots and a game high six assists to raise his season numbers to 335 points, 142 rebounds, 83 assists and 84 blocked shots.

For his career, he ranks 11th in scoring (1,353 points), 10th in rebounding (682 rebounds) and first in blocked shots (300 blocks) in Centennial Conference history.

In the latest Centennial Conference statistics, he ranks among the CC leaders in scoring (15.2 ppg, eighth), rebounding (6.5 rpg, eighth), field goal percentage (.532, eighth), assists (3.77 apg, fourth), blocked shots (3.82 bpg, first), assist/turnover ratio (1.26, seventh), offensive rebounds (2.09 rpg, seventh) and defensive rebounds (4.36 rpg, eighth).

Individually the Diplomats starting "five" rank a top the conference as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) rates in scoring (12.4 ppg, 16th), field goal percentage (.497, 13th), assists (3.45 apg, fifth), steals (1.77 spg, third), three-point field goal percentage (.404, seventh), three point field goals (2.09 pg, seventh) and assist/turnover ratio (1.58, fourth).

Guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) ranks in scoring (11.8 ppg, 18th), steals (1.45 spg, ninth) and three point field goals (2.36 pg, third).

Down low, forward/guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) ranks in scoring (11.4 ppg, 19th), rebounding (5.7 rpg, 12th), steals (1.86 spg, second), three point field goal percentage (.357, 15th), three point field goals (1.36 pg, 15th), blocked shots (0.68, 12th), offensive rebounds (1.91 rpg, tenth) and defensive rebounds (3.77 rpg, 13th), while forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) ranks in scoring (16.1 ppg, sixth), rebounding (6.8 rpg, fifth), field goal percentage (.609, third), free throw percentage (.785, 10th), blocked shots (0.95 bpg, seventh) and offensive rebounds (3.14 rpg, second).

Off the bench, reserve guard Logan Outerbridge (Fr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) ranks in steals (1.37 spg, 11th) while leading the Conference in three-point field goal percentage (.447, first).

Last week, Franklin & Marshall College head coach Glenn Robinson made history as the team's victory over Muhlenberg marked the 667th of Robinson's career to reset the NCAA Division III wins record.

Robinson, who improved his career record to 667-234 with the victory, now 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 has guided the Diplomats to the Division III Final Four four times (1979, 1991, 1996 and 2000) and was named the Basketball Times Division III "Coach of the Year" in 1991. He has earned conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) regional "Coach of the Year" honors 11 times.

Currently, he holds the ninth best winning percentage in NCAA history as his mark 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), Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (.743) and Arizona's Lute Olson (.741).

Robinson and the Diplomats will return to action on February 18 at home versus McDaniel. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.

The NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Basketball Polls are available online at www.ncaa.org/polls/m_w_basketball.html

2004 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball
Middle Atlantic Region Poll (Region Record/Overall Record)
1. Franklin & Marshall (16-3/19-3)
2. Alvernia (18-3/19-4)
3. Gwynedd Mercy (17-2/21-2)
4. DeSales (16-3/19-3)
5. Elizabethtown (12-5/15-7)
6. Catholic (15-3/18-5)