LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College head men's basketball coach Glenn Robinson became the 25th coach in NCAA history to win 700 games as his Diplomats defeated Swarthmore College 77-65 at home in the Mayser Center in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams.
Robinson, who holds a 700-243 record at Franklin & Marshall in 35 seasons, is the 25th coach in NCAA history and the 10th active coach to win 700 career games as he joins 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 Kryzewski, Don Haskins, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun and Dick Sauers in the exclusive club of coaches.
The all-time wins leader in Division III history, Robinson added to his record as three Diplomats (3-1, 1-0 Centennial Conference) reached double digits in scoring to outdistance the Garnet.
Forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored 18 points, dished out 10 assists and pulled down eight rebounds to fall two boards short of the second triple double in program history, while guard Adam Leonard (So., Muncy, PA/Muncy) added 14 points and six rebounds and forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) chipped in 14 points and eight rebounds.
Historically, Smith would have joined All-America center Steve Juskin '04 who scored 14 points, pulled down 16 rebounds and blocked 10 shots on January 31, 2001 at the Mayser Center for the only triple-double in school history.
Trailing 6-4 with 17:03 left in the first half, the Diplomats took the lead with a 9-0 run as Teschke hit a lay-up to tie the score, Leonard drained a three-pointer, Smith added a lay-up and center Derek Hines (So., Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) knocked down a jumper at the 15:14 mark to take a 13-6 lead.
The Garnet (0-4, 0-1 Centennial Conference) retook the lead with an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to go ahead 14-13, but center Brandon Yost (So., McDaniel, MD/St. Michael's) connected on a three-pointer from the top of the arc to go ahead 16-14 before Swarthmore's Jon Tundel made a lay-up to knot the score at 16-16 with 11:36 left in the first half.
Franklin & Marshall retook with a 5-0 run as guard Andrew McCaffrey (Jr., Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter) made a lay-up before Teschke dropped in a lay-up and a free-throw for a 21-16 margin.
Swarthmore fired back with a 6-0 run as Tundel made a free throw and a jumper, while Raul Ordonez made a three-pointer to put the Garnet in front 22-21 with 7:25 left in the half.
However, Franklin & Marshall took the lead for good with a 13-0 run to go ahead 36-22 as Smith made a lay-up, Hines connected on a jumper, Leonard drained three free-throws, Smith made two free throws, Leonard chipped in two free throws, forward Josh Fogg (Sr., Merrimacport, MA/Cushing Academy) made two free-throws and McCaffrey flipped in a lay-up to lead by 13 points with 3:48 left in the first half.
Tundel made the front-end of a pair of free-throws to end the run, but Smith collected a steal and put in a lay-up on a fast break to go ahead 38-23 before the teams traded baskets to a 44-30 Franklin & Marshall lead at halftime.
Swarthmore failed to cut the lead below nine points the rest of the way as the Garnet pulled to within 65-56 with 9:16 to play, but Yost made a lay-up and Smith added a three-pointer and a lay-up to push the lead back to 12 points at 72-56 with 6:51 left on the clock as the Diplomats coasted to the 12 point victory.
For Swarthmore, four players reached double figures in scoring as Tundel finished the game with 13 points and 10 rebounds, Matt Kurman added 10 points, Steve Wolf chipped in 14 points and Ian McCormick was held to 15 points.
Overall, the Diplomats shot 46.6% (27-of-58) in the game, including six-of-18 from beyond the arc, and 17-of-27 at the free-throw line, while holding advantages in assists (17-to-nine), steals (13-to-nine), offensive rebounds (10-to-nine), defensive rebounds (33-to-26) and total rebounds (43-to-35),
The key to the game was the play of Smith who scored eight points and dished out seven assists to factor in 23 of the Diplomats' 44 first half points, before tallying 10 points and passing out three assists in the second half to account for 16 of the team's 33 second half points.
Historically, Smith raises his career totals to 1,185 points, 519 rebounds, 202 assists, 55 blocks and 163 steals in 94 games as he surpassed Charlie Detz '95 for 19th on the career scoring list at the College and moved to within 34 points of surpassing Jerome Maiatico '00 (1,218 points) for 18th place.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on November 29 at Gettysburg College in the first road game of the 2005-06 season. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.
