LANCASTER, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) had one of the best games of his career scoring 25 points and pulling down 17 rebounds to record a pair of game highs as the #9 ranked Diplomats defeated #18 Gwynedd-Mercy College 92-74 in the NCAA Division III "Sweet 16".
The win sets up a showdown with #5 ranked Amherst College as the Lord Jeffs knocked off New Jersey City University by a 92-74 score in the Mayser Center in the game preceding the F&M-GMC clash. Franklin & Marshall and Amherst will tip-off the "Elite Eight" game at 7:00 p.m. on March 13 in Mayser.
Overall, Lynch's performance was record-setting as he recorded the Franklin & Marshall College record for most rebounds in an NCAA game erasing the previous record of 16 established by Charlie Detz in an 87-78 win over Susquehanna College in the Round of 32 during the 1994 NCAA Playoffs. Ironically, the Diplomats next opponent in 1994 was Amherst as the Lord Jeffs survived the Diplomats 80-71 in the "Sweet 16".
However, Amherst failed to advance further in 1994, as the Lord Jeffs have never been to the Final Four. Historically, Amherst's clash with Diplomats will mark the school's fourth trip to the Elite 8 in seven NCAA appearances. For F&M, the trip to the "Elite Eight" marks the programs fifth as the Diplomats are 4-2 all-time in "Elite Eight" games, with the 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 3-0 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 University 85-72 at William Paterson to advance to their fourth and most recent "Final Four".
Against Gwynedd-Mercy, F&M kept their wheels rolling towards Salem, Virginia and the "Final Four" as point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) and guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) tallied 21 and 22 points, respectively, to anchor an F&M offense which shot 51.7% from the field (31-of-60).
The Diplomats never trailed in the game as Wright hit a lay-up 21 seconds into the game and canned a three-pointer off an assist from forward Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) 38 seconds later to stake Franklin & Marshall to a 5-0 lead less than one minute into the game.
Gwynedd-Mercy responded with a free-throw by Jolon Davis to trim the lead to four, but Lynch hit a lay-up and a pair of free-throws to push the lead out to 9-1 at the 17:15 mark before Smith hit a driving lay-up at 16:52 to put the Diplomats in front 11-1.
Following a one-of-two performance by Badou Gaye at the line to trim the lead back to nine points, center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) hit a left-handed jumper which swished through the net for a 13-2 lead with 16:12 left in the first half.
However, the Griffins forged a comeback with an 8-2 run to trim the lead back to 15-10 with 14:04 to go in the half.
F&M pulled away over the next two minutes as Smith and Lynch hit lay-ups and Searles drilled a "three" from the top of the arc for a 22-12 lead with 12:18 remaining until the break.
Searles' three-pointer marked the Diplomats last points for the next three minutes as the Griffins engineered an 8-0 run with lay-ups by Rashid Santiago, Jeff Thomas, Courtney Griffin and Gaye to pull to within 22-20 with 9:52 remaining in the half.
However, the Diplomats countered as Lynch put down a lay-up and Juskin canned a 10-foot jumper to go back in front by six at 26-20 at the 8:22 mark. Griffin connected on a lay-up at the eight-minute mark, but Lynch banked in a lay-up and Searles drilled a three-pointer on consecutive possessions to go ahead 31-22 with 6:57 remaining in the half.
Leading 41-30 with four minutes to play, F&M saw its lead dwindle as Corey Cann and Gaye dropped in lay-ups and Cann drilled a trey to move Gwynedd-Mercy to within 41-37 with 1:24 until intermission. However, F&M responded as Lynch made a pair of free-throws at the 1:05 mark and put in a lay-up with 1.64 seconds on the clock as F&M carried a 45-39 lead into the locker room.
The teams traded buckets to open the second half as Lynch connected at 19:39 before Gaye tipped in a shot for a 47-41 F&M lead 39 seconds into the half.
Franklin & Marshall began to construct a larger lead at 18:53 as Smith drove to the basket, hit a lay-up, was fouled by Griffin and converted the free-throw to go out in front 50-41. Gaye hit the back-end of a pair of free-throws off a foul by Juskin at 18:37, but the Diplomats' offense took over as Lynch dropped a lay-up at 17:59 before Searles and Juskin drilled three-pointers at 17:22 and 16:39, respectively, to balloon the lead to 58-42.
Cann canned a three-pointer to pull the Griffins back to within 13 points at 58-45 before Gaye hit a lay-up to edge Gwynedd-Mercy back to within 12 at 59-47.
Wright and GMC's Chris DelBrocco exchanged three-pointers to keep the margin at 12 before Gaye put in a lay-up at 12:18 to slice the Diplomats' lead to 10 points at 64-54.
The bucket ignited Franklin & Marshall's offense as the blue and white outscored GMC 9-1 over the next four minutes behind a three-pointer and a lay-up from Wright to go ahead 73-55 with 8:31 to play.
Gaye added a lay-up and Thomas hit a free-throw to trim the lead back to 15 points at 73-58 before Smith hit the front-end of a pair of free-throws and Wright swished a three-pointer for the winning points to stake his team to a 77-58 lead.
Leading 80-63 following a basket by Griffin, Wright made history as he drove to the basket and laid in a shot for an 82-63 lead the 1,000th point of his collegiate career to become the 28th 1,000 point scorer in program history as he now has 1,003 points to rank 27th all-time.
Historically, he becomes the third senior this year to reach the feat following Juskin, who accomplished the task in last year's Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament, and Searles, who achieved the mark in the 2004 Rotary Tip-Off the New Year Tournament, two tournaments which F&M won.
Further, the Class of 2004 becomes the fourth in program history to have three 1,000 point scorers joining the Classes of 1989 (Phil Hoeker, Brad Markey, Brian Menet), 1992 (Will Lasky, Mark Maggionacalda, Chris Finch) and 1995 (Mike Sievert, Charlie Detz, Dave Jannetta).
Leading by 19 points with 4:42 to play, Franklin & Marshall again saw its lead begin to dwindle as Santiago drilled a "three" and Thomas made a lay-up and a free-throw off a foul by Searles to move to within 82-69 with 4:23 left on the game clock.
Gwynedd-Mercy pulled even closer one minute later as Thomas made a pair of free throws to slice the margin to 11 points as 82-71 with 3:09 remaining in the contest.
However, Smith flipped in a lay-up and Lynch made one-of-two at the charity stripe to push the lead back to 14 points at 85-71 with 1:34 on the clock.
Davis made one-of-two at the line to edge to within 85-72, but personal and technical fouls on Gaye allowed Wright and Searles to hit pairs of free-throws to force the lead to 89-72 and ice the game at the 1:21 mark. The team's traded baskets over the last minute as Davis connected for a basket and guard Logan Outerbridge (Fr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) finished the game off with a three-pointer with 35 seconds left on the game clock for the 92-74 final.
Overall, Gaye and Davis led the Griffins with 15 points, while Thomas chipped in 14 and Griffin added 12 as Gwynedd-Mercy concludes the year 26-3.
For F&M, Smith tallied 14 points, while Juskin dished out three assists, blocked six shots, corralled four rebounds and tallied seven points.
The game was a showcase of the best field goal percentage defense (36.9% by Gwynedd-Mercy) versus the #9 field goal percentage offense (50.0% by Franklin & Marshall) in Division III.
The key to the contest and the Diplomats' secret to managing GMC's defense was the outside-shooting and shot selection of Searles (five-of-nine, seven-of-eight free throws, four-of-seven three-pointers) and Wright (eight-of-15, two-of-two free throws, four-of-eight three-pointers) who combined to shoot 13-of-24 from the floor while corralling nine rebounds.
In addition, F&M held a marked advantage on the glass and at the free-throw as the Diplomats outrebounded Gwynedd-Mercy 46 to 33, including a 33 to 21 advantage on the defensive glass, while connecting on 20-of-26 attempts at the charity stripe to the Griffins' 12-of-22 performance.
Overall, this year's NCAA berth marks 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).
Beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, tickets will be available for the F&M-Amherst "Elite Eight" game.
Prices are set at $5 for general admission and $4 for students, senior citizens and children over two years old. Children under two years of age will be admitted free of charge.
Only cash will be accepted for tickets (no checks, credit cards or money orders will be accepted) and all sales are final.
