LANCASTER, PA - Forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) drove down the paint and dropped in a lay-up with 2.7 seconds left on the clock for the winning basket as Franklin & Marshall held off Haverford College in the Centennial Conference men's basketball semifinals at the Mayser Center.
Leading 71-63 with 2:29 left on the clock, the #1 seed Diplomats saw their lead dwindle to a 71-71 tie with 27.9 seconds on the clock as Mark Gabriel hit lay-ups at 2:10 and 27.9 and added a pair of free throws to compliment a pair of shots at the charity stripe by Jeremy Bass to knot the game.
The Diplomats drove down the court before calling a full timeout with 18.9 seconds left in regulation. Playing without starting center Dan Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) who fouled out with 1:09 to play, the Diplomats moved the ball around the perimeter before Teschke drove down the paint and floated a lay-up that rattled around the rim and dropped for a 73-71 lead with 2.7 seconds to play.
The #4 seed Fords had a chance to tie or win the game, but Matt Stein's inbound pass sailed out of bounds as half court to give the Diplomats back the ball as Franklin & Marshall ran out the clock to advance to a Centennial Conference title game showdown versus #2 seed Ursinus at 3:30 p.m. on February 27 in the Mayser Center.
Ursinus advanced to the title game with an 87-72 rout of #3 seed Gettysburg in the first semifinal game.
Overall, the Diplomats never trailed in the game as F&M jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first 3:30 of play as guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) hit jumpers at the 18:13 and 17:29 marks before point guard Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) put in a lay-up at 16:25. Gabriel connected on a lay-up at 15:31 to put the Fords on the board, but Wright shook his defender and stroked a three-pointer to push the lead out to 9-2.
Forward Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) made history at the 11:49 mark as he converted on a lay-up for a 15-6 lead and the 1,000th point of his career, as he became the 29th Diplomat to reach the milestone.
Leading 17-8 with 11:15 left in the first half, Franklin & Marshall's lead melted to 17-13 as Matt Stein hit a lay-up and free throw before dropping in a lay-up to pull Haverford to within four points. Guard Adam Leonard (Fr., Muncy, PA/Muncy) hit a free throw to inch the lead back to four points, but Mike Kelly drained a three-pointer at 7:41 to move the Fords to within 18-16.
The Fords stayed within two points as Kelly connected on a pair of free-throws for a 22-20 deficit with 5:47 left in the half, but the Diplomats countered with a 6-0 run as Wright connected on a lay-up at 5:23 and a jumper at 4:25 before Leonard drained a pair of shots at the charity stripe for a 28-20 lead with 3:57 left on the clock.
Leading 30-23 with 2:55 left until halftime, Franklin & Marshall again saw its lead begin to dwindle as Johnny Elefterakis hit a jumper at 2:15 and Jeremy Bass tipped in a missed shot at 1:31 to set the score at 30-27. Lynch put in a missed shot at 1:03 to put the Diplomats back in front 32-27 with 1:03 to play before Elefterakis drained a three-pointer at :40 to put the score at 32-30. Needing a score to enter the locker room with momentum, Leonard dropped in a lay-up with seven seconds left for a 34-30 F&M lead at intermission.
In the second half, the Diplomats came out firing as Outerbridge made two-of-three free-throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt 30 seconds into the second half and Lynch hit a turnaround lay-up at 18:57 for a 38-30 lead.
The Fords cut the lead to 38-32, but Outerbridge and Smith hit back-to-back lay-ups at 18:09 and 17:32, respectively, to push the lead out to 42-32.
Franklin & Marshall managed to keep the lead between eight to ten points pushing it out to 52-40 with 13:49 left to play following a lay-up by Outerbridge.
Haverford then went to work reeling off an 11-4 run to move to within 56-51 with 9:23 left on the game clock. F&M countered to push the lead back to 12 points at 65-53 with 6:53 to play.
Leading 69-57 with 4:21 on the clock following a jumper by Outerbridge, F&M began to see its lead peeled away as Gabriel knocked down a lay-up at 4:08. The teams traded fouls before Gabriel connected on another lay-up at 3:14 and Bass finished a lay-up at 2:42 to cut the lead to 69-63.
Lynch pushed the lead back to eight points as he converted on a pair of free throws at 2:29 for a 71-63 lead and the dramatic finish.
For F&M, Wright finished with 16 points and four rebounds in 36 minutes, while Teschke dropped in 16 points and pulled down six rebounds in 40 minutes to lead the Diplomats. Outerbridge added 12 points, Lynch tacked on 11 points and a game high nine rebounds with three assists, while Smith recorded nine points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Historically, Smith reached his 1,000th point and moved up to 26th on the career scoring list at the College as he now has 1,007 points to surpass Mike Sievert '95 (1,002), Peter Deutsch '84 (1,004) and Mike Mehaffey '96 (1,005).
Gabriel scored 22 points and added seven rebounds, while Bass chipped in 21 points and seven boards and Matt Stein recorded 13 points and five rebounds to lead the Fords. In addition, Elefterakis added seven points and a game high five assists.
The win avenges a 90-86 loss to Haverford on January 23 at Haverford. The loss marked Haverford's first against the Diplomats since a 70-68 defeat of F&M in the 1977 Middle Atlantic Conference Southern Division semifinals and the first regular season win over Franklin & Marshall since a 68-67 win during the 1968-69 season. Further, the loss snapped a 27 game win streak by Franklin & Marshall over Haverford as the Diplomats now stand 58-11 all-time against the Fords.
Franklin & Marshall will take on Ursinus in the Centennial Conference title game for the second time in the last three years as the Bears upset F&M 96-88 in overtime in Collegeville in the 2003 title tilt.
In their last meeting in Mayser, the Diplomats rolled to a 91-60 victory over the Bears on February 5 to marked the most lopsided win for Franklin & Marshall since the Diplomats downed McDaniel College 86-49 on February 18, 2004. In addition, it marked the second straight rout of the Bears in Mayser as Ursinus fell 108-71 on January 10, 2004.
The Bears advanced to the title game behind an 87-72 win over Gettysburg as 2005 Centennial Conference Player of the Year dropped in 24 points and dished out nine assists to key Ursinus to the win.
In addition, Brian McEvily added 13 points, Matt Fabian recorded two points and 16 rebounds, Will Fury chipped in 10 points and nine boards and Nick Shattuck dropped in 22 points and seven rebounds as the Bears advanced to their second CC title game in school history.
For Gettysburg, Matt Whelan scored 31 points and David Glasser netted 15 points and five assists.
The title game will mark the 101st meeting between F&M and Ursinus as the Diplomats hold a 74-26 all-time record against Ursinus since the series began in 1915.
The 2005 Centennial Conference Championship will be decided at 3:30 p.m. on February at the Mayser Center, as the Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship field will be on the line.
Admission is $4 for adults, $2 for students (13-18 without ID) and free for youth 12 and under. Also, students from the participating teams are admitted free upon presentation of a current school ID.
