LANCASTER, PA - Guard/forward Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) poured in 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team routed Washington College 97-71 to clinch the #1 seed and "Final Four" hosting rights for the 2005 Centennial Conference playoffs on February 26-27.
F&M (18-6, 13-4 Centennial Conference), which entered the game with a one game lead over Johns Hopkins University (14-9, 11-6 CC). However, Hopkins fell 80-77 in overtime at Ursinus (15-9, 12-5 CC) as F&M now holds a one game lead over the Bears and Gettysburg (15-9, 12-5 CC).
Per the Centennial Conference rules, the Diplomats clinched the #1 seed as F&M can finish no worse than 13-5 in the CC, while Ursinus and Gettysburg can finish no better than 13-5. Among the three teams, F&M holds a 3-1 record, including a sweep of Gettysburg, while Ursinus is 2-2 and the Bullets are 1-3.
Against the Shoremen, Smith and the Diplomats scored early and often as F&M rallied from an 11-2 deficit with 16:44 left in the first half to hold a 43-29 lead at halftime.
Down nine, the Diplomats reeled off a 15-6 run to knot the game at 17-17 with 11:24 left in the half. Franklin & Marshall then took the lead for good as Smith hit a lay-up to start a 7-0 run by F&M as guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) drained a three-pointer and guard Adam Leonard (Fr., Muncy, PA/Millville) made a lay-up to take a 24-17 lead.
Washington failed to cut the lead below five points the rest of the way as Travis Moore connected on a lay-up to make the score 24-19 at the 8:56 mark. The Diplomats responded as Leonard hit a jumper to start an 11-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 35-19 lead with 5:45 remaining to hold a 43-29 lead at the break.
The Shoremen opened the second half with a 5-0 run to slice the lead to 43-34 before F&M rattled off an 11-0 run sparked by seven points by Smith for a 54-34 lead with 16:14 left on the game clock.
Franklin & Marshall continued to expand the lead as the Diplomats led by as many as 30 points as the team cruised to the 26 point victory.
For F&M, center Danny Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) and forward Bryan Teschke (So., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) finished with 10 points, Wright added nine and Leonard chipped in 16 points.
Historically, Smith raised his career point total to 983 points in 84 games as he is on pace to become the 29th Diplomat to score 1,000 career points.
Joe Breslin led the Shoremen with 14 points, while Jonathan Webb and Kyle Stem tallied 12 points as the Shoremen fall to 10-29 all-time against Franklin & Marshall.
Franklin & Marshall (18-6, 13-4 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on February 22 in the Mayser Center versus Johns Hopkins University. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.
