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LANCASTER, PA -- The Franklin & Marshall College Athletic Department will host four basketball games in two days as Franklin & Marshall will clash with Mitchell College and either Lincoln University or Juniata College in the 2006 Lancaster Rotary Club Tip Off the New Year College Basketball Tournament sponsored by Lancaster General Hospital on January 2-3 in Mayser Gymnasium. First round pairings are Lincoln vs. Juniata at 6:00 and F&M-Mitchell at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, January 2 with the consolation and championship games set for 6 and 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 3, respectively. Franklin & Marshall enters the tournament 6-3, 2-2 in the Centennial Conference, after dropping Gwynedd Mercy College (73-68 W), Juniata College (82-60 W), Swarthmore College (77-65 W), Gettysburg College (73-61 W), Lebanon Valley College (69-55 W) and Alvernia College (78-73 W) in 2005. One of the most successful intercollegiate basketball programs in Division III history with a 1,153-794 record, the Diplomats have been led by 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 has recorded 163 points, 67 rebounds, 38 assists, eight blocks and 18 steals to date as he enters the tournament averaging 18.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Among the all-time leaders in school history with 1,162 points, 552 rebounds, 223 assists, 56 blocks and 172 steals in 99 games, Smith has recorded some of his best career nights against Lincoln and Juniata College. Earlier this season on November 22, he tallied 25 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in 30 minutes to lead Franklin & Marshall past Juniata 82-60 in the Mayser Center. Against Lincoln last year, he scored 26 points and pulled down eight rebounds in 21 minutes as the Diplomats downed the Lions 116-100 in the Mayser Center in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament. The last time F&M and Lincoln met in the Rotary Tournament, Smith recorded three points, four rebounds and two steals in 15 minutes as a freshman, but was overshadowed as guard Jackiem Wright ‘05 shot 12-of-21 from the field, including six-of-12 from three-point range, for 34 points to earn Most Valuable Player honors as Franklin & Marshall College tamed the Lions 91-60 to win the 2003 Rotary Tournament. Historically, F&M is 3-0 in Rotary Tournament Championship games versus Lincoln as the Lions fell 90-66 in 1997 and 92-79 in 2000. Overall, the Diplomats will be looking for their 20th Rotary Championship and their 18th in the last 19 years as Franklin & Marshall won the 1981, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 tournaments. F&M's lone loss over the last 18 tournaments came in 1998 when Alvernia defeated the Diplomats 86-76. For Lincoln, the 2006 tournament marks the Lions ninth trip to Lancaster for the Rotary Tournament as the team appeared in the 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003 fields finishing second (1997, 2000, 2003), third (1998, 1999) and fourth (1995, 2001). Ranked #21 in the latest D3hoops.com poll, the Lions have roared out to an 11-3 record this year after having their 2005 season terminated in the Mayser Center in a 116-100 loss to the Diplomats in the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region Tournament first round. An independent member of NCAA Division III which does not belong to a conference, Lincoln comes to Lancaster road tested as the Lions have played just two games at home downing Salem International (87-74 W) and Randolph-Macon (85-62 W) on November 21 and 28, respectively. In addition, the Lions will be playing for the seventh time on back-to-back dates as Lincoln played in the Elizabethtown Tournament (November 18-19), faced off with Salem International (November 21) and Albright (November 22) in single games and traveled to the North Carolina Wesleyan Tournament (December 2-3) before playing back-to-back single games at Wilkes and Baptist Bible on December 12-13. The most grueling period occurred on December 18-21 as the Lions played in back-to-back-to-back-to-back games with a single game at Randolph Macon (December 18) before facing Lake Erie (December 19) in Ashland, Virginia in the Hal Nunnally December Classic and Greensboro (December 20) and Christopher Newport (December 21) in the Myrtle Beach Classic A good road team which is 7-0 on neutral courts this year defeating Kings (72-69 W), Richard Stockton (68-63 W), Cheyney (81-72 W), Chowan (102-92 W), Lake Erie (93-88 W), Greensboro (85-81 W) and Christopher Newport (114-112 W OT), the Lions have struggled in their opponents gyms going 2-3 with losses to Albright (97-96 L), Wilkes (107-99 L OT), Randolph Macon (101-80 L) and wins at North Carolina Wesleyan (113-76 W) and Baptist Bible (89-84 W). The player to watch for Lincoln is guard Kyle Myrick who is averaging 32.2 points and five assists per game. A preseason second team Street & Smith and third team D3hoops.com All-America selection, he has erupted for 40 or more points four times this year dropping 44 versus Albright, 41 against North Carolina Wesleyan and Wilkes and 40 versus Greensboro. Historically, Lincoln has never met either Juniata or Mitchell, while the Lions are 2-10 all-time against Franklin & Marshall since the series began in 1949 as the Diplomats have won the last 10 meetings between the two programs since the Lions last victory in 1951. Juniata returns to the Mayser Center for the second time this season and the first time in the Rotary Tournament as the Eagles enter their inaugural Rotary Tournament with a 5-5 record, 2-0 in the Middle Atlantic Commonwealth Conference. Overall, the Eagles are 1-3 on the road this year as Juniata has fallen at Franklin & Marshall (82-60 L) and Grove City (63-60 L) with a 78-59 loss versus Albion at the Allegheny Tournament and an 88-75 win over the host Gators. At home, Juniata has nested knocking off Lancaster Bible (83-31 W), Pitt-Greensburg (91-72 W), Susquehanna (69-61 W) and Moravian (100-70 W) with losses to York (82-74 L) and Indiana of Pennsylvania (81-79 L). Two players to watch for Juniata are forwards Brian Cannon and Travis Boyd as the duo are averaging 15,9 and 12.2 points per game, respectively. Historically, an F&M-Juniata title game would mark the 41st meeting between the two programs, as F&M is 26-14 against the Eagles having won the last eight meetings since Juniata last defeated the Diplomats in 1970. Rounding out the tournament field is Mitchell College as the Pequots enter the tournament 1-8 following an 83-74 win over the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on December 8. A first time participant in the Rotary Tournament, the Pequots will face off with Franklin & Marshall, Lincoln and Juniata for the first time in school history as Mitchell enters the tournament following losses versus Eastern Connecticut (82-73 L), William Paterson (76-58 L), Salve Regina (80-49 L), Western Connecticut (98-87 L), Wesleyan (68-47 L, 86-75 L), Connecticut College (86-67 L) and Endicott (83-60 L). Leading the way for Mitchell is forward Jamale Foster who is averaging 13.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game as he has tallied 125 points, 60 boards, 17 assists, 26 turnovers, six blocks and six steals in eight games. The 2006 Tip Off the New Year Tournament is presented by the Rotary Club of Lancaster, an organization of business and ethical persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and help build goodwill and peace in the world. The object of the Rotary Club is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise, and in particular, to encourage and foster: (1) the development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; (2) high ethical standards in business and professions; (3) the application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to his personal, business and community life; (4) the advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service. Presented by Lancaster General Hospital, the 2006 Tip Off the New Year Tournament is sponsored in the benefit of the Lancaster Community by the Rotary Club of Lancaster. Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students and children each night.
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