LANCASTER, PA - Forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) scored 16 points and center Derek Hines (So., Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) added eight points and 12 rebounds to lead the Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team to a 53-38 win over Haverford College in Centennial Conference men's basketball action at the Mayser Center.
Overall, F&M's defense stifled the Fords throughout the game as the Diplomats forced 17 turnovers, collected seven steals and held Haverford to 31.4% (16-of-51) in the game. The point total marks the fewest points allowed in a game by the Diplomats since a 104-33 win over the Fords on February 1, 1989 and marks the third fewest allowed in a Centennial Conference game behind wins by Muhlenberg (78-33 W vs. Haverford, February 13, 1999) and the Fords (59-34 W vs. Dickinson, January 17, 2004).
Trailing 5-2 with 18:33 left in the first half, the Diplomats (8-9, 3-7 Centennial Conference) began to take over the game as point guard Logan Outerbridge (Jr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) hit a jump shot to pull his team within a point.
Forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) knocked down a jumper at 15:41 to give the Diplomats the lead for good as Franklin & Marshall went in front 6-5. Hines added to the run with a hook shot before Outerbridge chipped in a free throw and guard Adam Leonard (So., Muncy, PA/Muncy) banked in a lay-up to cap off a 9-0 run to go ahead 11-5 with 11:03 left in the first half.
Haverford's Aaron Heath sliced the lead to four points at 11-7 with a lay-up at 10:36, but the Diplomats answered the shot with a 9-0 run as Hines, Smith and Leonard made jumpers to go in front 17-7 before guard Pat Pryzbylowski (So., Brick, NJ/Brick) came off the bench to swish a three-pointer for a 20-7 Franklin & Marshall lead with 5:07 left in the half.
Haverford responded with a 4-0 run to pull within seven points as the teams traded baskets for a 27-18 F&M lead at the break.
The Fords sliced the lead to five points at 27-22 in the first minute of the second half as Ray Brown and Mike Fratangelo made lay-ups, but Hines and Smith drove through the lane for lay-ups to keep the lead at nine points with 18 minutes left on the clock.
Haverford was unable to rally back into the game, as the Fords could not cut the lead below seven points the rest of the way.
For F&M, Smith dominated the second half scoring 10 points with five rebounds in nine minutes to lead his team to the win. Historically, he raised his career totals to 1,411 points, 617 rebounds, 254 assists, 65 blocks and 190 steals as surpassed Jackiem Wright '05 (1,403) for seventh on the career scoring list at the College and moved within 34 points of eclipsing Steve Juskin '04 (1,444) for sixth on the all-time list.
In addition to Smith and Hines, Pryzbylowski came off the bench to hit three-of-four three-pointers for nine points, while Outerbridge added three points and Teschke, center Ben Stone (Fr., Washington, D.C., Maret School) and guard Mantas Paulauskas (So., Parry Hall, MD/Our Lady of Mount Carmel) chipped in two points to account for all of F&M's scoring in the game.
David Nowacki led Haverford with 11 points and nine rebounds, while Jason Polykoff chipped in eight points and John Elefterakis tacked on five points as no other Ford scored more than three points in the game.
The victory evens the season series between F&M and Haverford as the Fords held off the Diplomats 74-70 in overtime on December 10 on the Main Line. Further, the win improves the Diplomats to 59-11 all-time against Haverford.
The key to the game was F&M's ability to stop the Fords outside shooters as Haverford was held to three-of-17 from beyond the arc (17.6%), a significant difference from the teams first meeting when Haverford knocked down six-of-14 (42.9%).
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on January 25 at McDaniel College in Centennial Conference action. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
