Franklin & Marshall Moves to Ninth in Lazindex.com Division III Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
3/16/04

LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team is ranked ninth in the nation and first in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the March 14 Lazindex.com Power Rankings.

Ranked #12 last week, Franklin & Marshall (26-4, 17-1 Centennial Conference) is one of the most successful programs in the history of NCAA Division III basketball with a record of 1,124-792.

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 where they advanced to the NCAA "Elite Eight"

Overall, the tournament berth marked 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).

F&M, which knocked off Hampden-Sydney 78-76 in the round of 32, defeated Gwynedd Mercy (92-72 W) in the "Sweet 16", but fell to Amherst 82-70 in the "Elite Eight" to conclude the season among the top eight teams in the nation.

The win, combined with a 92-74 win over New Jersey City in the "Sweet 16", boosted the Lord Jeffs from 22nd to 11th in the nation this week as Amherst will face Williams College on March 19 in the NCAA Final Four.

For F&M, which concluded the year with the 19th 20-win season under head coach Glenn Robinson (674-235), the team's 26-4 record marks the program's best mark and highest winning percentage (.867) since the 1996 team concluded the year 29-3 (.906) in the NCAA "Final Four".

The 2004 squad's appearance in the "Elite Eight" marked the program's seventh as the Diplomats are now 4-3 all-time in "Elite Eight" games, with the other losses coming away from Mayser as F&M fell 77-68 at Rochester in the 1992 NCAA Tournament and 79-71 at Southern Maine in 1989.

Historically, the Diplomats are now 3-1 in "Elite Eight" games at home in the Mayser Center. In 1979, F&M knocked off New Jersey City 81-72 on their way to the Final Four. The team repeated the feat in 1991 by knocking off Rochester 76-73 in overtime before handling Wilkes 107-70 in the 1996 "Elite Eight".

In 2000, F&M won on the road defeating Catholic 85-72 at William Paterson to advance to their fourth and most recent "Final Four".

A trio of Diplomats concluded their careers among the top players in school history as center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover., NJ/Hanover Park), point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) and guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) made history as they join the Classes of 1989 (Phil Hoeker, Brad Markey, Brian Menet), 1992 (Will Lasky, Mark Maggionacalda, Chris Finch) and 1995 (Mike Sievert, Charlie Detz, Dave Jannetta) as only the fourth class to have three 1,000 point scorers.

A D3hoops.com preseason All-America and All-Centennial Conference first team selection this year, Juskin concludes his career among F&M's best as he ranks among the all-time leaders in points (sixth - 1,444 points), rebounds (fourth - 727) and blocked shots (first - 330) while appearing in 114 and starting 111 games.

A four year starter and 2004 All-Centennial Conference first team selection, Searles ranks among F&M's all-time best in scoring (10th - 1,320), assists (sixth - 358), steals (seventh - 197), three-point field goals (second -202) and three-point field goal percentage (sixth - 40.3%) while appearing in 114 and starting 105 games.

A transfer from LaSalle University, Wright played three seasons for F&M appearing in 89 games while starting 60 over the last two seasons.

In three seasons, he tallied 1,004 points (1,019 including 15 points from LaSalle) to rank 25th in scoring, third in three-point field goals (197) and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (40.2%) in the F&M record book.

Overall, the trio of Wright, Searles and Juskin were the second highest scoring trio in school history with 3,783 combined points, 330 more than the trio of Detz, Jannetta and Sievert (3,453 points), and 410 less than the school record trio of Lasky, Maggioncalda and Finch (4,193 points).

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

2004 Lazindex.com Regional Rankings (March 14)
1. Franklin & Marshall
2. Gwynedd Mercy
3. Catholic
4. DeSales
5. Elizabethtown