LANCASTER, PA -- Amherst College's John Donovan scored a game high 25 points, including 17 in the second half, as the #5 Lord Jeffs went the distance to outlast #9 Franklin & Marshall College 82-70 in the NCAA Elite Eight and advance to the "Final Four" in Salem, Virginia on March 19-20.

Amherst will now face fellow New England Small College Athletic Conference member, 2003 National Champion and #1 nationally ranked Williams College in the "Final Four" as the Ephs downed Keene State 79-64.

The game was a clash of two of the top team's in the nation as Amherst outscored the Diplomats 50-43 in the second half to hang on for the win.

Leading 32-27 at halftime, Amherst saw their lead sliced to three just 37 seconds into the half as F&M center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) hit a lay-up for a 32-29 game.

However, the Lord Jeffs fired back as Donovan drained a three-pointer at 19:01, converted a pair of free-throws at 18:19 and swished another "three" at 18:00 as he ran off an 8-0 spurt by himself to put Amherst in front 40-29.

The Diplomats countered with a run of their own to take the lead as guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) drilled a three-pointer at 17:34, point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) connected on a lay-up at 16:36, guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) tipped in a missed shot at 15:41 and made a lay-up at 14:23 and Wright swished a "three" at 13:35 to give F&M at 41-40 lead and cap a 12-0 run.

Amherst's Russell Lee put his team back in front 41 seconds later by draining a pair of opportunities at the free-throw line for a 42-41 Lord Jeffs' lead with 12:30 to play.

F&M went back in front for the final time at the 12-minute mark as Juskin hit a lay-up for a 43-42 lead. However, Tim Jones drove the lane and connected for a lay-up and a free-throw off a foul by forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) at 11:54 to put the Jeffs in front to stay before Adam Harper made a pair of free-throws at 11:10 to push Amherst's lead to 47-43.

Franklin & Marshall attempted to stage a comeback at the charity stripe as Amherst's Andrew Schiel was called for a foul and took a technical foul for his fifth personal foul with 10:37 to play.

Wright made both shots off the technical and Searles made the front-end of a pair of shots off the personal foul to trail 47-46.

Needing a stop to get the ball and score to retake the lead, the Diplomats' Smith was called for a foul as Harper made a pair of free-throws to ignite a 7-2 run to put Amherst in front 54-48 with 8:44 left on the game clock.

Juskin hit a pair of free-throws to slice the margin to four points with 8:29 left on the clock, but a personal and technical foul on Lynch allowed Donovan and John Bedford to drain pairs of charity shots to move the lead out to 58-50 with 8:15 to go in the game.

Juskin attempted to fire his team by draining a three-pointer from the top of the arc to trim the deficit to five points, but Harper countered with a three-pointer of his own to keep the lead at 61-53.

Searles made a pair of free throws at 6:44 to move within six, but Bedford banked in a trey for a 64-55 lead with 6:21 on the clock.

The Diplomats' outside shooting nearly stole the game over the next minute as Wright and Smith drilled three-pointers to pull within 64-61 with 5:18 to play.

The Amherst lead dwindled to a pair of points as Searles made the back-end of a pair of free-throws to move within 64-62, but Donovan hit a timely three-pointer at 4:24 to push the lead back to five points at 67-62.

Ray Corrigan hit a lay-up at 3:23 to edge the lead the seven points at 69-62 with 3:23 to play, but Juskin, who played the last two games of the NCAA with a severely broken left hand suffered in the Diplomats' tournament win over #6 Hampden-Sydney last week, connected on a pair of free-throws to pull his team to within striking distance at 69-64 with 3:13 left on the clock.

But Lee and Donovan hit back-to-back lay-ups at 2:02 and 1:43 to put the Jeffs out in front 73-64 before Smith connected on a short jumper at 1:18 to keep F&M within seven points at 73-66.

However, Amherst hit six-of-nine down the stretch at the free-throw line and Searles hit a lay-up to put the game at 82-68 with 14 seconds left on the clock.

Facing elimination from the NCAA playoffs, the Diplomats' Brandon Jones (Sr., Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Friends) concluded a season in which he overcame back surgery, became an assistant coach and returned to the F&M bench as a player with a driving lay-up with two seconds left on the clock for the 82-70 final.

In the first half, the Diplomats' jumped on the scoreboard first as Lynch hit a jumper for a quick 2-0 lead at the 18:53 mark.

Trailing 7-6, the Diplomats would be forced into an early hole as Amherst reeled off a 7-0 run to lead 14-6 with 12:46 until halftime.

F&M could not overcome the margin in the first half cutting the lead back to five points at 32-27 to set up the climatic second half battle to the horn.

Bedford chipped in 15 points, while Tim Jones and Harper netted 14 and 13 points, respectively, to help Amherst advance in the tournament.

Wright led the Diplomats with 16 points, while Searles added 14 markers, Juskin tallied 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Lynch chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds in the effort.

Juskin concludes the season with 114 blocked shots as the total erases his previous school and Centennial Conference record of 108 established during the 2003 season.

Overall, F&M finishes the season 26-4 as the record marks the program's best record and winning percentage (.867) since the 1996 team concluded the year 29-3 (.906) in the NCAA "Final Four".

For Amherst, the win is their first in four attempts in the "Elite Eight" and marks the program's first trip to the NCAA "Final Four" as the Lord Jeffs improve to 27-3 on the year.

For F&M, the team's appearance in the "Elite Eight" marked the programs seventh as the Diplomats are now 4-3 all-time in "Elite Eight" games, with the other losses coming away from Mayser as F&M fell 77-68 at Rochester in the 1992 NCAA Tournament and 79-71 at Southern Maine in 1989.

Historically, the Diplomats are now 3-1 in "Elite Eight" games at home in the Mayser Center. In 1979, F&M knocked off New Jersey City 81-72 on their way to the Final Four. The team repeated the feat in 1991 by knocking off Rochester 76-73 in overtime before handling Wilkes 107-70 in the 1996 "Elite Eight".

In 2000, F&M won on the road defeating Catholic 85-72 at William Paterson to advance to their fourth and most recent "Final Four".

Overall, this year's NCAA berth marked the 19th in the history of men's basketball at F&M as the team earned NCAA bids in 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986-1996, 1999 and 2000, including appearances in four Final Fours (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000).