LANCASTER, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College head men's basketball coach Glenn Robinson recorded his 666th career victory to tie former Illinois Wesleyan head coach Dennie Bridges for the NCAA Division III career wins record as the #18 nationally ranked Diplomats demolished Dickinson College 88-44 in Centennial Conference play at the Mayser Center.
Robinson, who improved his career record to 666-234 with the victory, can reset the record on Saturday, February 14 at home in Mayser versus Muhlenberg College.
In his 33rd year at F&M, Robinson has guided the Diplomats to the Division III Final Four four times (1979, 1991, 1996 and 2000) and was named the Basketball Times Division III "Coach of the Year" in 1991. He has earned conference and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) regional "Coach of the Year" honors 11 times.
He is 12th among all active NCAA coaches in victories and has already surpassed legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (664-112) for 25th on the all-time list.
Currently, he holds the ninth best winning percentage in NCAA history as his mark has been bettered by only Kentucky's Adolph Rupp (.822), UCLA's John Wooden (.804), UNLV/Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian (.784), North Carolina's Dean Smith (.776), Duke's Mike Krzyewski (.745), Northern State's Don Meyer (.743), Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (.743) and Arizona's Lute Olson (.741).
Against the Red Devils, Robinson would guarantee his record-tying victory in the first half as the Diplomats built a 51-32 lead as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) hit six-of-nine field goal attempts, including five-of-eight from beyond the arc, for 18 of his game high 22 points.
Overall, Searles was dynamic for the Diplomats connecting on seven-of-12 from the field in the game for 22 points. Center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) chipped in 20 points, five rebounds, and a game high six assists and four blocked shots, while forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) added 21 points and a game high seven rebounds. The victory improves Franklin & Marshall to 18-3 overall, 13-1 in Centennial Conference play as the Diplomats are now two wins shy of clinching home court advantage for the Centennial Conference playoffs set for February 28-29.
Franklin & Marshall never trailed in the game and pulled ahead 6-4 in the first half before tallying a 6-0 spurt to go ahead by eight less than three minutes into the period. Dickinson attempted to tie the game as Matt Keys connected on a back-end of a pair of free-throws to slice the lead to 23-19 with 12:17 until halftime, but Juskin connected on a lay-up and a foul shot before Searles arched in the first of five first half three-pointers to move the lead back to 10 points.
Dickinson's Mark Harrison knocked down a jumper and Pat Coyle canned a "trey" to move the Red Devils back to within five at 29-24, but the Diplomats reeled off an 11-4 run behind a pair of "threes" from Searles to go ahead by 12 with four minutes left until the break.
Lynch hit a driving lay-up and a free throw off a foul by Jon Skvarka to push the lead out to 15 and ignite an 11-0 run in which Searles added another pair of three-pointers to lead 51-28 with 1:08 left in the half before Keys hit a pair of jumpers to cut the margin to 51-32 at the break.
The second half was an offensive and defensive showcase for the Diplomats as Franklin & Marshall held Dickinson to 12 points while hitting 56.9% of their shots (13-of-28) from the field for 37 points to run away with the game.
F&M used lay-ups to seal the contest in the first three minutes of the half as Lynch tallied two, while Juskin and Searles added one apiece in a 10-0 spurt to make the lead 61-32 with 17:00 minutes left on the game clock.
Keys added a pair of free throws for the Red Devils' first points of the second half, but Juskin hit a turnaround jumper to fire-up the F&M offense as the blue and white dominated both ends of the court in a 17-2 run to put the lead at 78-36 with nine minutes left to cruise to the 44 point win.
For Dickinson, Keys led the Devils with 18 points while Brad Litchfield added nine points. Skvarka keyed Dickinson on the glass pulling down five rebounds as Red Devils were outrebounded by F&M 37-27.
Overall, the keys to the game were Dickinson turnovers and the F&M defense as the Devils committed 26 miscues while Franklin & Marshall limited the red and white to 18-of-52 shooting (34.6%) from the floor, three-of-13 (23.1%) from beyond the arc and five-of-10 at the charity stripe.
Robinson and the Diplomats will return to the court at home on February 14 versus Muhlenberg. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
