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LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team finished the year ranked 10th in the nation and first in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the final Lazindex.com Power Rankings. The ranking marks the second top 10 pick of the year for the team as the Diplomats were ranked sixth in the final D3hoops.com poll of the season announced on March 23. Leading the team in 2004 were All-America center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) and point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) who earned National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Men's Basketball All-America Team honorable mention accolades. Both D3hoops.com All-Middle Atlantic Region selections, the duo marked the only pair of players from a school selected to the D3hoops.com and NABC All-Middle Atlantic Region teams. In addition, the pair both earned All-Centennial Conference first team honors earlier this year as Searles and Juskin's recognition on the first team marked the fifth time overall and second straight time F&M has placed two players on the first team. Last season, Juskin and guard/forward Asaf Ganot '03 garnered first team honors as the Diplomats recorded two first-teamers for the first time since 1996 when Mike Mehaffey and Jeremiah Henry earned the honor. The Diplomats also placed two players on the first team in 1995 (Charlie Detz' 95, Dave Jannetta '95 & Mehaffey) and 1994 (Detz & Jannetta). A three time All-CC honoree following a second team nod in 2002 and first team honors last year, Juskin tallied 426 points, 187 rebounds, 105 assists and a school and Centennial Conference record 114 blocked shots this year as he earned D3hoops.com All-America second team honors. A 2004 Street & Smith's Division III Preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection, and a 2003 and 2004 D3hoops.com All-Mid Atlantic first team selection, he is the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. Further, he 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. The February 2 Centennial Conference Player of the Week and the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, he holds the Centennial Conference record in blocked shots as his total is 119 swats more than the total of runner-up Cam Scribner '03 of Haverford (211). At point guard, Searles sparked the Diplomats ranking first in assists (106) and tying with teammate Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) for the lead in steals (58) while tying with Juskin for second scoring with an average of 14.2 points per game. The February 23 Centennial Conference Player of the Week, Searles has been among the Centennial Conference's most prolific scorers as he has combined with Juskin as the duo rank third all-time in scoring with a combined 2,764 points. A four year starter, 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. In the history of the Centennial Conference, he ranks third in three-point field goals, fifth in assists and is tied with Dickinson's Billy Hagan '03 for the Conference record in steals with 197. Overall, the senior trio of Searles, Juskin and guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) made history as they joined 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. In addition they become 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). The Diplomats captured the Centennial Conference Championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the NCAA "Elite Eight"
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. 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 (17-1 in Centennial Conference play) marked 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". 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 (Final)
1. UW-Stevens Point
2. Williams
3. Hanover
4. Lawrence
5. John Carroll
6. Wooster
7. Rochester
8. Illinois Wesleyan
9. UW-Whitewater
10. Franklin & Marshall
11. Hampden-Sydney
12. Wheaton
13. Randolph Macon
14. Amherst
15. UW-River Falls
16. Wittenberg
17. Gustavus Adolphus
18. Maryville (TN)
19. Trinity (TX)
20. Ohio Northern
21. Otterbein
22. Buena Vista
23. Puget Sound
24. Augustana
25. Sul Ross State 2004 Lazindex.com Regional Rankings (Final)
1. Franklin & Marshall
2. Gwynedd Mercy
3. Catholic
4. DeSales
5. Elizabethtown
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