LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored ten points and pulled down a game high seven rebounds as the #19 nationally ranked Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team outlasted Washington & Lee 63-43 to advance to the title game of the 37th Annual S. Woodrow Sponaugle Basketball Tournament.
The Diplomats received a game high 15 points from point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) and a 12 point output from forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, NJ/Council Rock) as nine different Franklin & Marshall College players found the scoring column. Lynch led the way for Franklin & Marshall in the first half as he scored the Diplomats first nine points as F&M built a 16-2 lead in the opening 5:30 of the game and never looked back.
However, Washington & Lee's Mike Stuart got his team back into the game as he stroked the first of three consecutive treys by the Generals to cut the Diplomats' lead to 11. Chris Halkitis fired back-to-back treys to slice the lead to 16-11 with 10:08 left in the first half.
Searles connected on a pair of free-throws to move the lead back to 18-11 before Mike Denbow arched in a three-pointer to cut the lead to four with 7:15 left until halftime.
Searles then took over the game stroking a trey and slicing through the defense for a lay-up to ignite a 9-0 run which pushed the lead to 27-14, a margin which the Generals' failed to overcome as F&M entered the locker room with a 34-21 lead at halftime.
In the second half, senior Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) took over the game connecting on three-of-six from the field, including two-of-four from long range, for nine points as he finished the game with 11 points, three assists and five rebounds. Overall, the Diplomats' gradually pulled away from Washington & Lee in the final 20 minutes of the game for the 20-point victory.
In the other semifinal, Guilford College's Jevon Clarke stroked a jumper with four seconds left on the clock in regulation to tie the score at 79-79 and force overtime as the Quakers stunned #18 nationally ranked Catholic University 98-96 in overtime.
Overall, Clarke finished the game with 19 points to tie with Catholic's Patrick Satalin for the game high as the Quakers overcame a 48-41 halftime deficit to knot the score and outscore the Cardinals 19-17 in the extra frame for the upset victory.
In a game of runs, the Quakers got the better of Catholic in overtime as Thomas Swindell and Josh Connor made back-to-back lay-ups with 3:16 and 2:53 left in the extra period for an 89-84 lead. The Cardinals' Blair Mills converted on a field goal opportunity to cut the lead to three, but Connor drove to the hoop and made a bonus shot off a foul by Mills to push the lead to 92-86 with 1:43 left on the clock.
But Catholic fired back as Pat Dwyer stroked a three-pointer to pull within three at 92-89 10 seconds later. Following a full timeout by Guilford, Devon Clyburn scorched the Cardinals with an arching trey to push the lead back to six points with 56 ticks left on the clock.
Following a lay-up by William Morley to slice the margin to four, Guilford took another full timeout with 43 seconds left before Satalin beat his defender and knocked down a three-pointer to pull within 95-94 with 30.4 seconds left in the game.
However, Guilford would win the game at the free-throw line as Clyburn made the back-end of two shots for a 96-94 lead with twenty seconds left before the Cardinals' drove the length of the court and Aaron Kelly made a lay-up to tie the game with 9.7 seconds to go in the game.
Facing the possibility of double-overtime and needing to go the length of the floor versus a stiffening Cardinals' defense, the Quakers moved the ball up the court but could not find an open shot with the clock ticking down to zero. With 0.2 seconds left on the clock, Clyburn heaved a one-handed desperation shot from inside the three-point arc which found its way through the hoop drawing nothing but twine for the 98-96 victory.
Ironically, the last second heroics capped off a game in which the Quakers built a 30-12 margin to open the contest before the Cardinals answered with a 36-11 run to close out the first half.
In the second half, Catholic's lead ballooned to 69-52 with 9:50 left in the game, but Guilford used a 22-8 run to slice the Cardinals' lead to 77-74 with 1:41 remaining in the second half.
Following a pair of free throws by Morley to push the lead back to six with 1:13 to go the Quakers struggled to find their offense before Clarke canned a trey with 18 seconds showing to move within 79-77.
On the inbounds play, Guilford immediately fouled Satalin who missed the front end of a one-and-one to give the Quakers new hope and set up Clarke's field goal to force overtime.
The Franklin & Marshall-Guilford tournament title game will mark the first time the Quakers and Diplomats will meet in men's basketball.
Further, the game will mark the 28th time that Franklin & Marshall has advanced to the title tilt of the Sponaugle Tournament as the Diplomats hold an 18-9 record in title games.
The last time Franklin & Marshall lost the Sponaugle Tournament title game came in 1997 as Goucher upset the Diplomats 76-67. Conversely, the Diplomats last won the tournament in 2001 via a 77-67 victory over Salem State.
Last season, the Diplomats dropped an 80-75 decision in the opening round to Methodist College to mark the first time that Franklin & Marshall did not advance to the title game since 1984.
In 1984, Franklin & Marshall fell 65-59 versus Elizabethtown College before being edged 61-60 in the consolation game by Albright College.
On Saturday, November 22, Washington & Lee will face Catholic in the consolation game at 6:00 p.m., while the title tilt is set for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.
