LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) made eight-of-13 from the floor, including seven-of-12 from beyond the arc, and two-of-two at the free throw line for a game high 25 points as the Diplomats routed Ursinus College 91-60 in Centennial Conference men's basketball.
With the win, F&M (15-5, 10-3 Centennial Conference) moves into sole possession of first place in the Centennial Conference as Johns Hopkins University (12-7, 9-4 CC) fell to Washington College 57-53. Overall, Hopkins is now in a three-way tie for second place in the Conference with Gettysburg (12-8, 9-4 CC) and Haverford (10-9, 9-4 CC) while Ursinus (11-9, 8-5 CC) falls into fifth place.
Historically, Wright raised his career points total to 1,308 points as he surpassed Chris Finch '92 (1,287), Mark Maggioncalda '92 (1,298) and Brad Markey '89 (1,298) for 11th in scoring in school history.
Further, he moved to within 13 points of surpassing Duran Searles '04 (1,320) for 10th in scoring at the College, 26 of eclipsing Phil Hoeker '89 (1,333) for ninth and 31 of erasing the eighth place mark of Allen Taylor '82 (1,338). Further, Wright raised his school record to 252 career three-pointers.
Overall, four Diplomats reached double digits as center Dan Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) dropped in 17 points with eight rebounds, forward/guard Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) chipped in 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while forward Bryan Teschke (So., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) added 12 points.
Leading 39-34 at halftime, F&M pushed the lead out to ten points as Smith hit a lay-up and drained a three-pointer for a 44-34 lead. Will Furey pulled the Bears back into the game with a pair of free throws and a lay-up, but Wright hit a three-pointer for a 47-38 lead with 18:03 left on the game clock to ignite a 10-0 run as Lynch hit back-to-back jumpers before Smith swished a three-pointer at 15:34 for a 54-38 lead.
Leading 62-48 with 11:45 remaining, F&M began to seal the game as the Diplomats reeled off a 7-0 run behind a three-pointer by Smith and lay-ups by Teschke and point guard Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) for a 69-48 lead with 10:41 left on the clock. Ursinus' Mike McGarvey hit a three-pointer to move the Bears to within 18 points at 10:21.
However, the Diplomats' defense stiffened and offense ignited as F&M held the Bears without a field goal or point for 5:23 until Tim Smith hit a lay-up at 4:58 to make the score 80-53 in favor of Franklin & Marshall as F&M coasted to the 31 point victory.
The victory marks the most lopsided win for F&M since the Diplomats downed McDaniel College 86-49 on February 18, 2004. In addition, it marks the second straight rout of the Bears in Mayser as Ursinus fell 108-71 on January 10, 2004.
The game started as a nail biter as the Bears raced out to a 15-8 lead before F&M rattled off an 11-2 run to take a 19-17 lead following a lay-up by Lynch at 9:56. Ursinus countered as Furey hit a pair of free throws and a lay-up and Nick Shattuck connected on a lay-up for a 23-19 Bears' lead at the 8:18 mark.
Franklin & Marshall fired back as Smith knocked down a trey and Lynch made the backend of a pair of free throws to tie the score at 23-23 at 7:02. Joe Scholz made two free throws to put the Bears back in front 25-23 at 6:42, Wright hit a three-pointer to make the score 26-25 in F&M's favor at 6:27 and Scholz knocked down a lay-up at 5:19 for a 27-26 Ursinus lead.
Wright hit a three-pointer at 4:31 to put F&M back in the lead at 29-27, but Scholz made a pair of free throws to tie the score at 29-29 with 3:47 left in the half.
The teams traded points as Lynch hit a free throw to knot the game at 32-32 with 2:46 left in the first half before Lynch hit a lay-up at 1:43 and Wright drained a three-pointer for a 37-32 F&M lead with 1:07 remaining. The Bears inched to within three points as Scholz connected on a lay-up at the 1:00 mark, but Lynch hit an off balance shot with two seconds remaining on the clock for a 39-34 lead at the break.
Overall, Furey led the Bears with 13 points, while Scholz added 10 points and Matt Fabian chipped in nine points and a game high 10 rebounds.
The key to the game was Wright's first half performance as the senior guard broke loose for 19 points off six-of-10 shooting, including five-of-nine from beyond the arc, as he led a Diplomats' team which dropped in 53.8% (14-of-26) of its shots from the field in the first half and 50.0% (six-of-12) of its three point attempts. For Ursinus, the Bears shot 52.2% (12-of-23) in the first half, including 33.3% (three-of-nine) from beyond the arc.
In the second half, the F&M defense took over the game holding Ursinus to nine-of-33 shooting (27.3%), including one-of-11 (9.1%) from long range, as the Bears finished the game shooting 37.5% (21-of-56) from the field, 20.0% (four-of-20) from long range and 66.7% (14-of-21) at the free throw line. Offensively, Franklin & Marshall connected on 21-of-17 shots (77.8%) with six-of-nine (66.7%) from beyond the arc as F&M finished the game shooting 66.0% (35-of-53) from the floor, 57.1% (12-of-21) from long range and 56.3% (nine-of-16) at the free throw line.
The win raises F&M's record to 74-26 all-time against Ursinus as the game marked the 100th meeting between the Diplomats and the Bears since the series began in 1915.
Franklin & Marshall (15-5, 10-3 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on February 9 at Dickinson College. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
