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LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College Athletic Department will host eight basketball games in three days as Franklin & Marshall will clash with SUNY-Cortland, Gwynedd-Mercy College and Trinity College (CT) in the 38th Annual Sponaugle Men’s Basketball Classic on November 18-19 and with Elmira College, Widener University and UMass-Dartmouth in the 18th Annual Franklin & Marshall Women’s Tip-Off Classic on November 19-20. Historically a showdown between Elizabethtown, Millersville, York, F&M and Lebanon Valley College, the Sponaugle Tournament's focus has shifted over the last few seasons edition to feature some of the best teams in the history of NCAA Division III. First round pairings are SUNY-Cortland vs. Trinity (CT) at 6:00 and F&M-Gwynedd Mercy at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 18 with the consolation and championship games set for 6 and 8 p.m. on Saturday, November 19. Franklin & Marshall enters the tournament with a lot of expectations according to the press and the Centennial Conference. Selected to finish second in the CC by the conference coaches and sports information directors in the Centennial Conference preseason poll, F&M was selected as a possible breakthrough team in the 2005-06 edition of Street & Smith's College Basketball Preview. One of the most successful intercollegiate basketball programs in Division III history with a 1,147-791 record in 102 seasons, the Diplomats concluded the 2004-05 season 23-7, 14-4 in the Centennial Conference, to finish with the program’s 20th 20-win season and the fourth consecutive championship as the team captured the 2002, 2003 and 2005 Eastern College Athletic Conference titles and a Centennial Conference Championship in 2004. Leading the way this year will be Street & Smith's College Preview Preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection guard/forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin). A 2005 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Southern Men’s Basketball first team, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Men's Basketball All-Middle Atlantic Region second team and All-Centennial Conference first team selection, Smith recorded 527 points2C 216 rebounds, 73 assists»20 blocks and 67 steals last season as he led the Diplomats to the Centennial Conference regular season championship and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region title. In the Centennial Conference, he finished second in steals (2.23 spg), fourth in scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg), sixth in defensive rebounds (5.13 rpg), ninth in three point field goals made (1.77 pg), 10th in field goal percentage (.518), offensive rebounds (2.07 rpg) and three point field goal percentage (.387), 11th in minutes played (29.87 pg), 13th in assists (2.43 apg) and 14th in blocked shots (0.67 bpg) with seven double-doubles to raise his career numbers to 1,099 points, 485 rebounds, 185 assists, 48 blocks and 154 steals in 90 games. The 2005 ECAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, he averaged 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds with 10 assists, six steals and 11 blocks while shooting .605 (23-of-38) from the field and .429 (six-of-14) from beyond the arc to defeat Lincoln University (116-100 W), the University of Scranton (79-68 W) and Catholic University (66-56 W) as Franklin & Marshall earned its third ECAC title in as many chances. Against Lincoln, he recorded 26 points, eight rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes before tallying 18 points, eight rebounds and five steals in the title game versus Catholic. During his three year career at the College, Smith has led Franklin & Marshall to a 74-16 record, including a 41-8 mark in the Centennial Conference, as the Diplomats have claimed three Centennial Conference regular season championships, two ECAC titles (2003 & 2005), a Centennial Conference title (2004) and an NCAA bid (2004). Two other players to watch are point guard Logan Outerbridge (Jr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) and forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel). Outerbridge started 24 of 30 games last season making 96-of-200 field goal attempts, including 41-of-110 from beyond the arc, and 55-of-64 at the charity stripe for 288 points with 90 assists, 42 steals and 49 rebounds. For his career, he has 397 points and 87 rebounds with 131 assists and 77 steals in 57 games. Teschke made 114-of-217 from the field and 65-of-89 at the line for 297 points last year with 129 rebounds, 22 assists, 32 blocks and 17 steals in 30 games. In 56 career games, he has 354 points, 179 rebounds, 34 assists, 37 blocks and 22 steals. On the sidelines, Franklin & Marshall will be coached for the 35th year by Glenn Robinson who holds a 697-242 record at the College and is on the doorstep of becoming the 25th coach to win 700 games. The all-time leader in Division III men’s basketball wins, he can become the 25th member of the 700 wins club and only the 10th active member joining Bobby Knight (Texas Tech), Don Meyer (Northern State), Herb Mage (Philadelphia), Eddie Sutton (Oklahoma State), Lute Olson (Arizona), John Chaney (Temple), Mike Krzyzewski (Duke), Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) and Jim Calhoun (Connecticut). Historically, Robinson guided the Diplomats to the Division III Final Four in 1979, 1991, 1996 and 2000 and was named the Basketball Times Division III "Coach of the Year" in 1991. He has earned conference and NABC "Coach of the Year" honors 12 times, including the 2004 award for guiding the Diplomats to a 26-4 record, the Centennial Conference title and an NCAA Elite Eight berth. However, Robinson and the Diplomats will have a tough task ahead of them to capture their 20th Sponaugle title. A 2005 DIII News All-America fourth team selection, Trinity forward Tyler Rhoten is coming off a season in which he was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-Northeast Region second team, D3Hoops.com All-Northeast Region Second Team, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England All-Star second team and the All-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) first team and was honored as a runner-up for the Jostens Award, handed out to the Division III Player of the Year. A 2006 unanimous preseason All-America selection, Rhoten was an All-NESCAC selection, All-Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England All-Star, a D3Hoops.com All-Northeast Region First Team selection, the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division III All-Northeast Region First Team selection, a D3Hoops.com All-American Third Team selection, and a DIII News All-American Honorable Mention in 2004 as a sophomore. Further, he was also the 2002-03 NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a member of the DIII News National All-Freshman Team that year. Rhoten led the NESCAC in scoring at 22.1 ppg (575 points) last season, and was fifth in rebounding with 7.9 per game (206) and seventh in steals with 1.7 per game (45). Rhoten added 51 assists, 12 blocks, a 76.0 free throw percentage (79-104, sixth in NESCAC) and a 51.2 field goal percentage (248-484, seventh in NESCAC) to his other impressive statistics and led the team in scoring 19 times and rebounding 12 times. In addition, he sits at second on the College’s all-time scoring list after just three seasons with 1,658 points. He will lead a team with head coach Stan Ogrodnick which posted a 19-7 overall record and finished tied for third in the NESCAC with a 6-3 league mark last year as Trinity earned its fifth straight bid to the league championship tournament, advancing to the semifinals for the fourth time. The Bantams defeated Wesleyan, 78-64, in the NESCAC Quarterfinals, but lost, 75-72, at Amherst in the semifinal round. The Diplomats first round opponent Gwynedd-Mercy returns to the Mayser Center for the third consecutive year as the Griffins fell 73-68 to the Diplomats on January 4, 2005 in the Rotary Tip-Off the New Year Tournament title game and dropped a 92-74 game to Franklin & Marshall in the 2004 NCAA “Sweet 16”. The 2004 and 2005 Pennsylvania Athletic Conference champions, Gwynedd-Mercy finished 23-5, including 15-1 in the PAC, as the Griffins fell 84-70 at home to Union College in the opening round of the 2005 NCAA championship playoffs. The 2004 Pennsylvania Athletic Conference and Philadelphia Small Colleges Coach of the Year, GMC head coach John Baron has led a revitalization of the Griffins program as Gwynedd-Mercy finished the 2004 season ranked #15 in the nation and was among the top 25 teams in the nation last year. A player to watch for the Griffins is guard Chris DelBrocco who is the leading returning scorer for GMC after averaging 13 points a game last year. A 2005 Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Honorable Mention selection, DelBrocco led GMC in three-pointers (72) and was 25th in the nation in three-point accuracy (41.6%). Last season he reached double figures in 20 games, including a career-best 24 points and 10 assists in a 95-88 win at Neumann. In his freshman year, DelBrocco averaged just over nine points and two assists. Rounding out the tournament field is SUNY-Cortland which will open the 2005-06 season on the heels of an 18-10 season, 12-4 in the SUNYAC, as Cortland fell to Skidmore College 84-81 in the ECAC Division III Upstate quarterfinals. Led by head coach Tom Spanbauer, the Red Dragons will turn to senior forward Frank Ranieri as their primary scoring threat. A four-year starter for the Red Dragons, Ranieri has 836 career points as he averaged 10.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last year. He was an honorable mention All-SUNYAC selection as a sophomore after averaging 12.9 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds per game. In the women’s tournament, F&M will square off with Elmira at 1:00 p.m., while Widener and UMass-Dartmouth will clash at 3:00 p.m. on November 19. The consolation and championship games will occur at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., respectively, on November 20. The Diplomats, who missed a berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs in the final game of the 2005 season and finished with an 11-14 record, will look to open their season up with the program’s first title in the F&M Tournament since 2001. Leading the way for F&M in 2006 will be All-America point guard Dana Johns (Sr., York, PA/Eastern York). A 2005 DIII News All-America fifth team selection, she was named the 2005 Centennial Conference Player of the Year, an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Southern Women’s Basketball first team all-star, an All-CC first team selection and was honored with D3hoops.com Women’s Basketball All-Mid-Atlantic Region second team honors. A 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division All-District II women’s basketball second team selection, Johns concluded the 2005 season with 407 points, 101 rebounds, 85 assists, 84 steals and two blocked shots in 25 games. A .425 shooter from the floor (135-of-318), she is second all-time in single season three-point baskets as she connected on 56-of-138 (.406) to finish three treys short of the school record of 59-for-147 set by Carol Flinchbaugh in 1991. A 2004 & 2005 All-Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll recipient, she led the Conference in scoring (16.3 ppg) and ranks second in steals (3.36 spg), fourth in free throw percentage (.764), minutes played (34.08 pg), three point field goals (2.24 pg) and three point field goal percentage (.406), sixth in assists (3.40 apg) and seventh in assist/turnover ratio (1.33). For her career, Johns has 751 points, 216 rebounds, 230 assists, 191 steals, three blocked shots. In the history of women’s basketball at the College, she is tied for sixth in assists with White (230), ranks second in three point field goals (111) and three point field goal percentage (37.8, 111-of-294). Coming off an 8-17 season, including a 3-11 mark in the Empire 8, Elmira will be led by head coach Matt Donohue who guided the Soaring Eagles to a berth in the inaugural Empire 8 Tournament, their first post-season birth since 1999-2000.
A player to watch for Elmira is sophomore guard Kourtney Troutman who was named the 2005 Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year. As a freshman she led the Soaring Eagles in scoring (10.2 ppg), steals (2.8 spg), three-point percentage (40%), field goals (95) and three-pointers made (44). Additionally, she was second on the team in rebounds (4.4 rpg) and assists (2.6 apg). She was the leading scorer for EC on eight occasions, and has already cracked the top ten in three-pointers on the all-time list at Elmira College. UMass-Dartmouth head coach Mick Klitzner will look to lead his team to an above .500 mark this year as the Corsairs finished 13-13 and were seeded fifth in the Little East Conference Tournament. Historically, the record marked the team’s highest number of wins and their best overall record since they went 13-12 a dozen years ago. A player to watch will be guard/forward Kerri Augenstein who averaged 13.7 points per game last season to finish second in the Little East Conference and earn All-LEC second team honors. In addition, she grabbed 4.5 rebounds per game, connected on 21 three pointers and shot 75.8 percent from the free throw line while adding 38 assists, 35 steals and six blocked shots. Rounding out the tournament field is Widener University, which is coming off a breakout season under head coach Alisa DiBonaventura. Last season, she took the team to the ECAC Tournament as the Pioneers finished the season 15-12 thanks in part to the play of forward Chelsea Luhta, center Celeste Baumgarder and guard Linette Babiarz.
Luhta was named All-Middle Atlantic Corporation Commonwealth Conference last season and gave the team a presence inside leading the MAC with 19.5 points per game and ranking seventh with 7.0 rebounds per contest. Another force for Widener is Baumgardner who finished with 9.3 points per game and 6.1 rebounds per contest last season. Tickets for each day of the tournaments are $5 for adults, $1 for students, while children six and under are free. On Saturday, separate tickets will be sold for the men’s and women’s tournaments.
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