LANCASTER, PA - It is six hundred ninety-nine down and one to go as forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, including nine defensive boards, to power the Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team past Juniata College 82-60 in non-conference action at the Mayser Center for the 699th win of head coach Glenn Robinson's career at the College.
Robinson, who holds a 699-243 record at Franklin & Marshall in 35 seasons, is now one win away from becoming the 25th coach in NCAA history and the 10th active coach to win 700 career games as he will join Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Bobby Knight, Jim Phelan, Big House Gaines, Jerry Johnson, Don Meyer, Herb Magee, Lefty Driesell, Eddie Sutton, Lou Henson, Henry Iba, Ed Diddle, Phog Allen, Lute Olson, Jerry Tarkanian, Norm Stewart, John Chaney, Ray Meyer, Mike Krzyzewski, Don Haskins, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun and Dick Sauers in the exclusive club of coaches.
Versus Juniata (2-1), Robinson and the Diplomats (2-1) used a strong second half to turn a 33-31 lead at halftime into a 22 point win.
Leading by two at the break, Franklin & Marshall went on a 7-2 run in the opening two minutes of the second half as Smith made a lay-up and a three-pointer and forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) dropped in a lay-up for a 40-33 lead.
The teams traded baskets to a 49-39 Diplomats' lead before Teschke connected on a pair of lay-ups and center Derek Hines (So., Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) knocked down a jumper for a 55-41 lead with 13:47 left on the game clock.
Juniata's Brian Cannon made a lay-up to cut the lead to 12 points at 55-43, but center Brandon Yost (So., McDaniel, MD/St. Michael's) dropped in a lay-up and Smith made the backend of a pair of free throws for a 58-43 advantage.
The teams traded buckets to a 60-46 F&M lead before Teschke and Yost knocked down jumpers and guard Andrew McCaffrey (Jr., Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter) swished a pair of free throws to push the lead to 66-46 with 8:41 on the clock.
The lead swayed from 17-to-20 points before Juniata's Nick Hager converted a pair of free throws to set the score at 72-54.
Franklin & Marshall iced the win as McCaffrey drilled a jumper, Tescke tapped in a lay-up, Smith made a pair of free throws and a lay-up and point guard Logan Outerbridge (Jr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) added a lay-up to account for a 10-0 run to stake Franklin & Marshall to an 82-54 lead with 4:10 on the clock to take the 22 point win.
Outerbridge finished the game with 13 points, four assists and six steals, while Hines added 11 points and six boards and Teschke chipped in 18 points, two steals and three rebounds as four Diplomats reached double figures in scoring.
Historically, Smith raised his career totals to 1,167 points, 511 rebounds, 192 assists, 54 blocks and 160 steals in 93 games as his performance against Juniata moved him past Don Anderson '82 (1,152) for 20th on the career scoring list at the College as he is now 13 points shy of eclipsing Charlie Detz '95 (1,179) for 19th place.
For Juniata, Brian Cannon made 10-of-21 from the field, one-of-four from beyond the arc and eight-of-nine at the free throw line for a game high 29 points with six rebounds in 32 minutes.
Overall, Cannon fired away in the first half making six-of-15 shots from the field and eight-of-eight at the charity stripe with five rebounds in 18 minutes for 21 of the Eagles' 31 points.
Hager added 14 points in the loss as no other Eagles' player scored more than four points.
The game marked the first meeting between Franklin & Marshall and Juniata in men's basketball since the third game of the 1979 season as the Diplomats defeated the Eagles 68-65 on their way to the program's first of four NCAA "Final Four" appearances.
Following the win, F&M holds a 26-14 advantage in the series versus Juniata, including an eight game win streak since the Eagles' last win in 1970.
Franklin & Marshall (2-1) will continue the season on November 27 at home versus Swarthmore College in the Centennial Conference season opener. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. at the Mayser Center.
