ALLENTOWN, PA - Muhlenberg College center Jeff Stewart scored 21 points, including 11 in the first half as the Mules built a 42-28 first half lead, to hold off Franklin & Marshall College 82-70 in Centennial Conference men's basketball at Memorial Hall.
Trailing 19-11 with 11:11 left in the first half, Muhlenberg (8-5, 3-3 Centennial Conference) rallied as Chris Strachan, and Brandon Mefford made lay-ups before Stewart added a lay-up and a free throw to slice the Diplomats' lead to 19-18 with 9:48 left in the half. Muhlenberg took the lead for the first time in the game over a minute later as Jimmie Riggins converted on a lay-up chance to put the Mules in front 20-19. The lead expanded to 22-19 as Chris Huber hit a lay-up at 7:35 before the teams exchanged lay-ups as F&M center Derek Hines (So., Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) and Riggins made buckets for a 26-23 Mules' lead.
F&M (7-6, 2-4 Centennial Conference) shaved the lead to a point as forward Brandon Yost (So., McDaniel, MD/St. Michael's) made a lay-up at 6:14, but Muhlenberg went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 33-25 with 3:44 to play. Muhlenberg continued the build the lead as the Mules went on a 9-3 run to close out the half and carry a 42-28 lead into the break.
F&M was unable to overcome the margin in the second half as the Diplomats went on a 9-1 run to close out the game for the 82-70 final score.
For F&M, forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) tallied a game high 22 points with five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 26 minutes as he raised his career totals to 1,358 points, 584 rebounds, 241 assists, 60 blocks and 184 steals in 103 games as he surpassed Allen Taylor '82 (1,338) and Dennis Westley '81 (1,357) for eighth in scoring among all-players in program history. Further, he is now within 46 points of surpassing Jackiem Wright '05 (1,403) for seventh and 87 points of eclipsing Steve Juskin '04 (1,444) for sixth in scoring.
In addition to Smith, Yost tacked on 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals and Hines added seven points, five rebounds and two assists for the Diplomats.
Jimmie Riggins recorded a double-double for the Mules netting 11 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench for Muhlenberg, while Huber scored 17 points.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on January 12 at home versus Washington College in Centennial Conference action. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.
