LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall guard Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) connected on 10-of-16 from the field, including seven-of-eight from beyond the three point arc, with a free throw to account for a game high 28 points, but Gettysburg College placed four players in double digits as the Bullets gunned down Franklin & Marshall 78-70 in Centennial Conference men's basketball action at the Mayser Center.
For Gettysburg (12-8, 8-5 Centennial Conference), Mike Spadafora, Brian Sateja, Erik Fromm and Todd Brady tallied 18, 14, 13 and 10 points, respectively, as the Bullets built a 37-30 halftime lead and held on for the eight point victory.
Leading by seven points at halftime, Gettysburg pushed the lead out to 47-33 in the opening minutes of the first half as Sateja made a lay-up at the 19:45 mark and Smith drained his fifth three-pointer of the game to slice the Bullets margin to six points with 17:44 to play. Gettysburg responded to the trey as Matt Whelan drove down the lane for a lay-up, Brady hit a three-pointer, Sateja dunked and Julius Redd made the backend of a pair of free throws to account for an 8-0 run.
The Diplomats (9-11. 4-9 CC) countered as guard Adam Leonard (So., Muncy, PA/Muncy) hit a three-pointer at 15:10 and Smith blocked a shot, collected the loose ball and broke down the court for a lay-up on a fast break at 13:19 to pull Franklin & Marshall back to within 47-38.
Trailing 54-42 with 9:24 to play, F&M cut the lead to under nine points as forward Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) made a jumper at 9:16 and point guard Logan Outerbridge (Jr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) hit a three-pointer at 8:37 to trim the Bullets' lead to 54-47.
Gettysburg pushed the lead back to 10 points at 59-49, but Teschke made back-to-back lay-ups to cut the lead to 59-53 with 6:03 to play.
Sateja made a free throw and Teschke drained a pair at the charity stripe to set the score at 60-55 before Brady made a free throw following a lay-up to put Gettysburg ahead 63-55 as the teams traded free-throws and lay-ups the rest of the way.
Outerbridge added 10 points and four assists for the Diplomats with a pair of three-pointers, while Teschke went seven-of-12 from the field and four-of-four at the free throw line for 18 points with six rebounds and two blocks.
Smith added seven rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks as his three-point field goal performance fell one three-pointer shy of the school record of eight treys achieved twice by Tom Nicholson '92 during the 1991 season and tied Jackiem Wright '05 for second place on the single game three-pointer list as Wright hit seven-of-12 from long range for 25 points in a 91-60 win over Ursinus College on February 5, 2005 in the Mayser Center.
Individually, Smith continued his assault on the Franklin & Marshall record book as he raised his career totals to 1,473 points, 646 rebounds, 262 assists, 68 blocks and 197 steals as he is within 33 points of surpassing All-America guard Jeremiah Henry '96 (1,505) for fifth on the career scoring list at Franklin & Marshall College.
Overall, the Diplomats drained 11-of-19 from three-point range as Franklin & Marshall College fell three treys shy of the school single game record set on December 3, 2001 on 28 attempts in a 100-68 win over Albright College in the Mayser Center and tied on March 2, 2005 on 23 attempts in a 116-100 victory over Lincoln University in an Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament first round game in the Mayser Center.
As a team, Franklin & Marshall shot 46.3% (25-of-54) from the field, including 14-of-31 (45.2%) in the second half, and 64.3% (nine-of-14) at the line, while Gettysburg shot 63.6% (28-of-44) from the field, 46.2% (six-of-13) from beyond the arc and 61.5% (16-of-26) at the line.
The loss snaps an eight game win streak by the Diplomats over Gettysburg dating back to a 50-47 loss in the Mayser Center to the Bullets on February 23, 2002 in the Centennial Conference title game. The Diplomats concluded the 2002 season 24-5 as the team won the ECAC title and ranked #25 in the final D3hoops.com poll.
In the race for the Centennial Conference playoffs, the Diplomats now stand two games back of the fifth and final playoff berth with five games to play. If the season were to end today, Johns Hopkins (15-4, 11-2 CC), Ursinus (15-5, 11-2 CC), Gettysburg, Washington (10-10, 8-5 CC) and either Muhlenberg (10-9, 6-7 CC) or Haverford (8-11, 6-7 CC) would make the playoffs. McDaniel (7-13, 5-8 CC) stands seventh in the standings, while the Diplomats, Dickinson (5-15, 3-10 CC) and Swarthmore (4-16, 3-10 CC) round out the Conference standings.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 4 versus Muhlenberg at home in the Mayser Center. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
