CARLISLE, PA - Franklin & Marshall guard/forward Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) tallied 16 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes to lead the Diplomats to a 54-46 comeback win at Dickinson College to clinch a Centennial Conference men's basketball playoff berth.
The Diplomats (16-5, 11-3 Centennial Conference) become the first CC men's basketball school to clinch a playoff berth as the team can finish no lower than fifth in the final Centennial Conference standings as Haverford survived 88-85 at home against Washington College to drop the Shoremen to 6-8 in the Centennial Conference.
Further, F&M retained a one game lead in the Centennial Conference regular season title race as Haverford (11-9, 10-4 CC) remained in the second place in the CC, Johns Hopkins (13-7, 10-4 CC) remained in third with a 68-63 win at McDaniel, and Ursinus (12-9, 9-5 CC) moved past fifth place Gettysburg (12-9, 9-5 CC) for fourth place in the CC race as the Bears dropped the Bullets in Gettysburg 69-64.
Trailing 28-22 at halftime, Franklin & Marshall saw the lead expand to eight points 30 seconds into the second half as Travis Doll hit lay-up to push the Dickinson (8-13, 5-9 CC) lead out to 30-22. The teams traded baskets as Doll hit another lay-up to put the margin at 34-28 with 16:27 left on the game clock.
The Diplomats took over the game from there as center Dan Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) knocked down a pair of free throws, forward Bryan Teschke (So., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) split the Devils' defense for a lay-up off an assist from point guard Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) and Smith tipped in a missed three-pointer by guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) to knot the game at 34-34 with 14:56 left in the game.
Franklin & Marshall's run continued as Teschke, Smith and forward Josh Fogg (Jr., Merrimacport, MA/Cushing Academy) dropped in back-to-back-to-back lay-ups to cap a 12-0 run for a 40-34 Diplomats' lead at the 10:48 mark.
Dickinson's Matt Keys attempted to rally his team by draining a three-pointer at 10:12 to halve the lead to 40-37 before Muhammad Carr chipped in the back-end of a pair of free throws for a 40-38 F&M lead with 9:07 left in the game.
However, Outerbridge drained a three-pointer at 8:15, guard Adam Leonard (Fr., Muncy, PA/Muncy) corralled a steal and Smith pulled down back-to-back defensive rebounds to stop the Red Devils' on their next three possessions before Teschke hit a lay-up and a foul shot to make the game 46-38 in favor of Franklin & Marshall with 6:10 to play.
Neither team found the basket for the next 2:13 before Dickinson's Jimmy Martelli connected on a three-pointer to pull the Devils to within five points at 46-41 with 3:57 left on the clock.
Jon Skvarka pulled Dickinson to within 46-42 with a free throw at 1:48, but Wright and Smith iced the game going four-for-four each down the stretch for the 54-46 win as the Red Devils failed to cut the lead to less than six points the rest of the way.
The key to the comeback was Smith who connected on three-of-eight from the field and four-of-four at the free throw line for 10 second half points, while pulling down seven rebounds, including five defensive boards. Further, F&M shot 37.0% (10-of-27) from the field and 11-of-12 at the charity stripe in the last 20 minutes of play while holding Dickinson to 26.1% (six-of-23) and 66.7% (four-of-six) at the free throw line.
Overall, Dickinson led early in the game as Franklin & Marshall jumped out to a 5-3 lead with 14:47 left in the first half.
Tied 7-7 at the 11:10 mark, Dickinson rattled off a 7-0 run as Brad Litchfield hit a three-pointer before Nick Good and Keys converted for buckets and a 14-7 Red Devils' lead with 8:40 left in the first half.
The teams traded baskets to an 18-11 Dickinson lead with 5:39 left in the half. Franklin & Marshall nearly halved the lead as Wright dropped in a trey off an assist from Lynch at 4:50, but the Red Devils countered with an 8-2 run to take a 28-16 lead with 1:18 left until halftime.
F&M chipped away at the margin as Leonard made a lay-up at :59, Outerbridge collected a steal and hit Smith for a lay-up at :32 and Teschke made a pair of free throws at :06 for the six point Dickinson lead at halftime.
For Franklin & Marshall, two other Diplomats nearly joined Smith with double-doubles as Teschke tallied 13 points and seven rebounds, while Lynch collected nine points and nine boards.
Wright finished with seven points to up his career points total to 1,315 and move within six points of surpassing former back-court mate Duran Searles '04 (1,320) for 10th in scoring history at the College.
Litchfield led the way for Dickinson with 12 points, while Keys added 10 points and Skvarka netted one point and a team high nine rebounds.
Franklin & Marshall (16-5, 11-3 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on February 12 at Muhlenberg College. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.
