Franklin & Marshall Moves to #5 in December 7 D3hoops.com Men's Basketball Poll

by Sports Information
12/7/04

LANCASTER, PA – The Franklin & Marshall College men’s basketball team moved up one spot to #5 in the December 7 D3hoops.com poll.

Ranked #8 in the D3hoops preseason poll and #17 in the DIII News Preseason Top 25, the Diplomats moved up one spot from a #6 in the November 30 poll following a #7 ranking in the November 23 poll as the team has opened the season 3-0 with wins over DeSales University (81-67 W), McDaniel College (85-54 W) and Haverford (89-78 W) at home in the Mayser Center.

Against Haverford, guard/forward Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored a game high 26 points and grabbed two steals to lead the Diplomats.

Smith's performance was four points shy of the 27th 30-point game in the 102 years of basketball at the College as guard Duran Searles ’04 last accomplished the feat on February 21, 2004 with 36 points in a 96-78 win at Washington College.

Forward Bobby Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) added 18 points with 10 rebounds, while point guard Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) chipped in 13 points and four steals and center Danny Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) dropped in 13 points to round out the Diplomats in double digits as the Diplomats improved to 57-10 all-time against Haverford. Historically, Haverford has not defeated F&M in men’s basketball since 1977 – a streak of 27 consecutive games.

Overall, Franklin & Marshall ranks first in scoring offense (85.0 ppg), scoring margin (+18.7 ppg) and field goal percentage (.525), second in rebounding margin (+5.0 rpg), turnover margin (+6.67 pg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.02), third in rebounding defense (31.3 rpg), assists (16.0 apg) and steals (10.0 spg), fourth in scoring defense (66.3 ppg), free throw percentage (.649), three point field goal percentage (.356), three point field goal percentage defense (.321) and blocked shots (3.33 bpg), sixth rebounding offense (36.3 rpg), offensive rebounds (11.67 rpg), defensive rebounds (24.67 rpg) and three point field goals (7.00 pg) and eighth in field goal percentage defense (.452) in the latest Centennial Conference statistics.

Franklin & Marshall (3-0, 2-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on December 8 at Gettysburg College. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.

D3Hoops.com is widely considered the preeminent source of information on Division III basketball in the electronic medium. D3hoops has appeared in Sports Illustrated, ESPN Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the Hartford Courant and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among other publications.

D3hoops Men’s Basketball Poll (December 7, 2004)
# Team Pts.
1. UW-Stevens Point (6-0) 625
2. Illinois Wesleyan (5-0) 593
3. Wooster (6-0) 537
4. Puget Sound (6-0) 530
5. Franklin & Marshall (3-0) 498
6. Amherst (5-0) 482
7. Williams (7-0) 446
8. John Carroll (5-0) 418
9. Hanover (6-1) 417
10. Wheaton (IL) (6-0) 399
11. Lawrence (3-1) 373
12. Buena Vista (6-0) 369
13. Trinity (CT) (6-1) 340
14. UW-Oshkosh (6-0) 247
15. Albion (5-0) 240
16. Wittenberg (4-1) 236
17. Baldwin-Wallace (5-1) 218
18. Potsdam State (5-0) 188
19. Gwynedd-Mercy (4-1) 136
20. Otterbein (4-1) 133
21. College of New Jersey (4-1) 110
22. Virginia Wesleyan (7-0) 88
23. St. John Fisher (3-0) 86
24. Bethel (5-0) 59
25. Salem State (6-0) 50

Others receiving votes: Trinity (TX) 43, Rochester 43, Benedictine 39, UW-Whitewater 27, Lycoming 26, Randolph-Macon 20, Ripon 18, Occidental 13, UW-Platteville 11, Elmhurst 10, Keene State 9, Lebanon Valley 8, Gustavus Adolphus 8, Colby-Sawyer 8, Calvin 6, Western Connecticut 5, Sul Ross State 4, York (Pa.) 3, Christopher Newport 2, Aurora 1, Hamilton 1, Hampden-Sydney 1, Wartburg 1.