LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) dropped in 17-points to become the 27th Diplomats' men's basketball player to record 1,000 career points as F&M routed visiting Hobart College 112-82 in the opening round of the 2004 Lancaster Rotary Tip-Off the New Year Classic at the Mayser Center.
With the victory, F&M advances to face Alvernia College, an 87-65 winner of SUNY-Old Westbury in the other semifinal, at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 4 at 5:00 p.m. Hobart and SUNY-Old Westbury will square off at 3:00 p.m. in the consolation game.
Against Hobart, Searles took over the second half of the game connecting on four-of-seven from the field and two-of-three at the free-throw line to finish six-of-11 from the floor, three-of-seven from beyond the arc and two-of-three at the charity stripe to conclude the night with exactly 1,000 points in his career.
He was one of five Diplomats to crack double-digits as guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Wrightsville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) tied for the game high in points with the Statesmen's Joe Flacke as the pair both scored 23 points.
Overall, Wright connected on nine-of-16 from the floor, including five-of-11 from long range, while dishing out a game high five assists to pace the Diplomats attack. Center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) added 20 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and seven blocks to fall three blocked shots short of the third double-double in school history. Historically, Juskin is the only player in school history to record a triple-double, as the senior has two in his career..
Guard/forward Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) added 10 points, while forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) chipped in 15 as the Diplomats built a 57-27 halftime lead to hold off Hobart for the 30-point victory.
Leading 18-15 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half, Wright and Searles sealed the game over the next 3:22 as Wright dropped in five points and Searles added three as part of a 12-0 run by Franklin & Marshall to push the lead out to 30-15 with 10:38 remaining in the half.
Following three free-throws by Michael Manning to slice the F&M lead to 12, Juskin took over the remainder of the half converting on four field goals for eight points as part of a 27-9 to close out the half and the game as Hobart failed to move within 22 points of Franklin & Marshall for the remainder of the contest.
Flacke lead the Statesmen with 23 points and eight rebounds, while Billy Clarke added 13 and the duo of Brad Strait and Michael Manning both chipped in 10 points to key the Hobart attack.
The win marks the second straight by the Diplomats over the Statesmen as Franklin & Marshall handled Hobart 89-74 in a regular season game on December 22, 2002. Further, the score marks the second straight year F&M has tallied 112 points in the opening round of the Rotary Tournament as the Diplomats routed St. Mary's (MD) last year by a 112-67 final on their way to capturing the tournament title.
In addition, the loss marks Hobart's third straight to F&M as the Statesmen last defeated the Diplomats in 1964 (77-63 L) and 1965 (73-63 L) as Franklin & Marshall now holds a 3-2 advantage in the series.
Franklin & Marshall will be seeking a measure of revenge in the title tilt against Alvernia as the Crusaders upset the Diplomats 86-76 in the 1998 Rotary Tournament title game as the 2004 title game will mark Alvernia's first appearance in Lancaster since their victory.
The game marks the second straight year Alvernia and Franklin & Marshall will meet, as the Diplomats behind 28-points from Wright routed the Crusaders 101-61 in Reading on January 9 of last year.
Alvernia advanced to the title tilt behind 18 points from both Cornel Merricks and Ray Strickland as the Crusaders built a 44-31 halftime lead to hold on for the 87-65 final.
Zach Straining and Lamar Brickus chipped in 17 and 10 points, respectively, while Akeem Washington, a graduate of nearby McCaskey High School, tallied seven points, a game highs in rebounds (nine) and blocked shots (three) as the Crusaders outscored SUNY-Old Westbury 43-34 down the stretch for the win.
Dervent Williams led SUNY with 22 points, while Pat Umassor added 12 points and six rebounds and Chris Roberts netted 11 points.
Overall, Alvernia will be seeking their second Rotary Tournament title, while Franklin & Marshall College will be looking for its 19th Rotary Championship and their 15th in the last 16 years, with only the title game loss to the Crusader marring the streak.
The Rotary Club is 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, HealthGuard of Lancaster and G.E. Richards/SAVIN, the 2004 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.
