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LANCASTER, PA – Point guard Logan Outerbridge (Jr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) scored a game high 16 points to lead five Franklin & Marshall College players in double-digits as the Diplomats defeated Gwynedd-Mercy College 73-68 in the first round of the 38th annual S. Woodrow Sponaugle Men’s Basketball Classic in the Mayer Center. Guard Mantas Paulauskas (So., Parry Hall, MD/Our Lady of Mount Carmel) chipped in 10 points and four assists, forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists and forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) tacked on 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, while guard Adam Leonard (So., Muncy, PA/Muncy) came off the bench to add 11 points and seven rebounds as the Diplomats opened their season with a victory for the 19th time in the last 20 years and the 29th time in the last 32 seasons. The Diplomats (1-0, 0-0 Centennial Conference) will now face Trinity College (CT) which defeated SUNY-Cortland on a three pointer and foul shot with 11.6 left on the game clock to win 78-77 in the other first round game. Franklin & Marshall trailed only once against Gwynedd-Mercy as the team built a 7-0 lead 2:22 into the game as center Derek Hines (So., Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) made a bucket at 19:30, Outerbridge drained a three-pointer at 19:15 and Teschke hit a jumper off an assist from Smith at 17:38. The Griffins responded with a 10-2 run fueled by back-to-back three-pointers by guards Chris DelBrocco and Rick Haas as Gwynedd-Mercy took a 10-9 lead following a lay-up by forward Dave McFadden with 14:13 left in the first half. Franklin & Marshall countered to retake the lead for good as Teschke and Paulauskas hit back-to-back lay-ups at 12:19 and 11:52 to stake F&M to a 13-10 margin before center Brandon Yost (So., McDaniel, MD/St. Michael’s) stroked a three-pointer at 10:22 to push the margin to six points. GMC guard Francis Bowe chopped the margin to two points with a lay-up and a jumper before Smith and the Griffins Tom Keenan traded three pointers to set the score at 19-17 with 7:25 until halftime. Outerbridge gave the Diplomats some breathing room as he fired a three-pointer and made a free-throw for a four point play with 7:06 to go to inch the lead back to six points at 23-17. Outerbridge and Smith continued the Diplomats run as both hit three-pointers at 6:25 and 5:38, respectively, to make the score 29-17. The teams traded baskets and foul shots from there as the Griffins cut the lead to eight points at 32-24 with 3:12 left in the half, but Paulauskas drained a three-pointer with 36 seconds left in the half to set the score at 40-28 at intermission. Overall, F&M shot 41.9% (13-of-31) from the field in the first half, including seven-of-16 (43.8%) from beyond the arc, while GMC shot 10-of-30 (33.3%) and four-of-12 (33.3%) from long range. Gwynedd-Mercy began to inch closer in the opening minutes of the second half as the Griffins streaked out on a 6-0 run to open the half to slice F&M’s lead to 40-34 with 18:20 left on the game clock. Smith made a three-pointer to give the Diplomats a nine-point lead, but Rashid Santiago and Bowe made baskets to trim the margin to 43-38 at the 16:54 mark, Leonard hit a three-pointer at 13:58 for an eight point lead, but McFadden drove to the basket for a successful lay-up attempt and a free throw to make the score 46-41. F&M and Gwynedd-Mercy traded baskets and free-throws from there as the Diplomats engineered a 6-2 run for a 52-43 lead before Leonard and Keenan made three-pointers to keep the lead at nine points (55-46) with 9:56 left in the game. However, the Griffins continued to chip away at the lead as Gwynedd-Mercy made five-of-eight free throw attempts and a lay-up by DelBrocco and a pair of buckets by forward Anthony Williams to pull to within 61-57 with 4:37 remaining on the clock. F&M responded with an 8-0 run over the next 96 seconds as Outerbridge made a pair of free-throws, Hines converted on back-to-back lay-up chances and Teschke put back a missed shot to put the Diplomats in front 69-57 with 3:01 on the clock. The Griffins countered with an 8-0 run as Keenan made a free throw, Haas hit a jumper just inside the arc and Mike Payne dropped a three-pointer at 1:31 to trim the lead back to 69-63 before Frank Barder converted a pair of free throws with :32.4 left to pull Gwynedd-Mercy within striking distance. Outerbridge took over the game from there making four-of-four free-throws down the stretch, including a pair with 16.8 seconds left to ice the win as F&M improves to 3-0 all-time against Gwynedd Mercy. For the Griffins, Haas led the way with 12 points, while Williams tacked on 11 points and six steals. DelBrocco barely missed a double-double as he tallied nine points and eight rebounds in the loss. Historically, F&M and Gwynedd Mercy have met each of the three seasons in the Mayser Center 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”. Further, the win marked the 698th in the career of Franklin & Marshall head coach Glenn Robinson who is now 698-242 in 35 seasons at the College and is on the doorstep of becoming the 25th NCAA 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). He will look to increase his win total to 699 against Trinity as the Diplomats and Bantams will clash for only the fourth time in the history of the programs and the first time in Lancaster. The last time they met, Trinity defeated Franklin & Marshall 79-58 on March 10, 1995 in Hartford, Connecticut in the NCAA “Sweet 16” as the Diplomats concluded the season 27-2. Franklin & Marshall last defeated the Bantams in 1924 as the Diplomats handed Trinity a 15-8 loss in Hartford on December 17. The win marked the second straight for F&M against Trinity as the Diplomats netted a 21-16 win in the first meeting between the two programs on December 15, 1923. Trinity advanced to the title game in dramatic fashion as Kino Clarke hit a three-pointer with 11.6 seconds left on the clock and converted a free-throw off a foul by SUNY-Cortland’s Dave Jutton as the Bantams rallied from a seven point deficit with under five minutes to play. Leading 36-34 at halftime, SUNY-Cortland went on a 9-2 run to open the second half as the Red Dragons fired out to a 47-36 lead with 17:22 left in the half.
Trinity attempted to slice into the lead, but Elbert Nalls made a lay-up and a free throw for a three-point play and a 50-39 Dragons’ lead at the 16:35 mark.
Patrick Martin nearly halved the lead for the Bantams over the next 54 seconds as he drained a three-pointer and converted a pair of free throws to inch his team to within six points (50-44) with 15:41 to go. The Dragons fired back as Rod Headley dropped in a basket and Derrick Fish made a pair of free throws to fly out to a 54-44 lead at 15:04. However, the Bantams pecked their way back into the contest as Martin drove down the lane for a lay-up at 14:19 and Paul Rowe hit a fade-away jumper at 13:47 before Jutton knocked down a three-pointer at 13:27 to keep the lead at nine points (57-48). Trinity continued to chip away at the margin as the Bantams cut the lead to five points, but Jutton connected on a three-pointer at 8:26 to keep the Dragons ahead 66-58. However, Martin sandwiched a lay-up at 7:33 between jumpers by Tyler Rhoten at 8:02 and 6:48 as Trinity pulled to within 66-64. Cortland countered with a 5-0 run as Dave Maggiacomo put in a field goal, Scott Taggart made the back-end of a pair of free throws and Headley flipped in a lay-up with 4:55 remaining on the clock for a 71-64 lead. Again, Trinity fought back as Rhoten made a pair of free throws at 4:45 and Martin shook his defender for a lay-up at 3:35 before Cortland’s Scott Taggart made a lay-up at 2:23 to keep the Dragons in front 73-68. The teams traded points until the final minute of the game as Rhoten hit a miraculous one-handed heave from the top of the paint while being fouled by Taggart with 57.9 left on the clock to slice the lead to 77-74. He did not have a chance to cut the lead to less as his free-throw attempt was waved off due to a lane violation. Needing a defensive stop to tie or win the game, the Trinity defense responded collecting a defensive rebound and going the length of the floor to set up Clarke’s dramatic four point play to win the game. Leading for the first time in the game since the 2:56 mark of the first half, the Bantams iced the win as Clarke picked off a pass at midcourt and ran out the clock as the Bantams advance to the title game against Franklin & Marshall. The championship game will tip-off at 8:00 p.m. or 25 minutes following the conclusion of the 6:00 p.m. consolation game between SUNY-Cortland and Gwynedd-Mercy. Ticket prices are $5 for adults, $1 for students and free for youth six and under, as one ticket is good for admission to both men’s games on November 19.
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