CARLISLE, PA - Forwards Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) and Bryan Teschke (Jr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) combined for 44 points, including 25 of the Diplomats 33 points in the first half, as Franklin & Marshall College rallied in the final three minutes and held on through a tumultuous final 10 seconds to down Dickinson College 70-69 in Centennial Conference men's basketball.
Leading 49-45 with 11:26 left in the second half, the Diplomats saw their lead evaporate as Cory Kenny knocked down a three-pointer and Mike Geosits made the front end of a pair of free throws to knot the score at 49-49 with 10:33 on the clock. Dickinson took the lead at 51-49 with a jumper by Kenny at 10:00, but Teschke tied the score at 51-51 14 seconds later with a short jumper.
Smith hit a jumper and a free throw at 8:35 to put Franklin & Marshall ahead 54-51 with 8:14 on the clock, but Geosits connected on a jumper and Kenny put in a lay-up to give Dickinson a 55-54 lead with 7:30 to play. The Red Devils stayed on fire as Brad Litchfield connected on a pair of free throws at 6:56 to inch the margin out to 57-54 before guard Adam Leonard (So., Muncy, PA/Muncy) drilled a jumper at 6:17 to pull the Diplomats back to within a point.
Dickinson countered 16 seconds later as Litchfield swished a jumper at 6:01 before Geosits dropped in a lay-up to build the Red Devils' lead to 61-56 with 5:34 left on the clock.
Leonard hit a trey and Smith made the front end of a pair of free throws to pull the Diplomats back to within 61-60, but Matt Keys collected a defensive rebound and broke free for a three-pointer to give Dickinson a 64-60 lead at the 4:43 mark.
The Diplomats then went on an 8-0 run as point guard Logan Outerbridge (Jr., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) drained a three pointer at 3:36 and added two free throws courtesy a technical foul on Keys at 3:09 to put F&M in front 65-64.
Franklin & Marshall then chewed 45 seconds off the clock as Outerbridge missed a trey, Smith collected the offensive rebound and missed a jumper following a timeout. Guard Andrew McCaffrey (Jr., Exeter, NH/Phillips Exeter) recovered the loose ball and found Smith who dished a pass to Outerbridge for a three-pointer at 2:24 to give the Diplomats a 68-64 lead.
Litchfield attempted to pull the Devils to within two points at the 2:13 mark, but his jumper was swatted out of bounds by center Derek Hines (So., Lancaster, PA/Manheim Township) to give F&M back the ball.
However, Smith drew an offensive foul at 1:37 to give the Devils back the ball as Litchfield drilled a three-pointer at 1:17 to slice the margin to a point.
Following a timeout, Outerbridge rallied the Diplomats as he broke down the lane and put in a lay-up with 46 seconds to play to give his team a 70-67 lead. However, Geosits stole the ball from McCaffrey with 18 seconds to play and Litchfield fouled Outerbridge at the 16 seconds mark to put the F&M guard on the line.
Outerbridge missed the free throw as Kenny collected the rebound and found Geosits for a jumper with 14 seconds to play to cut F&M's lead to 70-69.
Dickinson had a chance to tie or take the lead eight seconds later as Smith fouled out and sent Travis Doll to the line. Doll missed the free throw as Teschke collected the board and was fouled with four seconds to play.
However, Teschke's free throw attempt fell short of the rim to allow Dickinson to inbound the ball with four seconds on the clock. Needing a stop to preserve the win, the Diplomats responded as Franklin & Marshall tipped Jon Skvarka's pass at center court and ran out the clock to hang on for the victory.
Overall, Teschke finished the game with 21 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and three steals in 32 minutes as he shot 10-of-16 from the field, Smith added 23 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in 39 minutes and Outerbridge tacked on 16 points with four three-pointers.
Historically, Smith raised his career total to 1,516 points as he surpassed Jeremiah Henry '96 for fifth on the career scoring list at the College and moved to within 50 points of surpassing Alex Kraft '02 for fourth on the list. In addition, Smith now has 657 rebounds, 201 steals, 259 assists, 161 three-pointers and 68 blocked shots as he ranks 10th in rebounds, seventh in steals and fifth in three-pointers in the history of the College.
For Dickinson, Litchfield tallied 26 points in 32 minutes, while Geosits tacked on 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Red Devils fall to 62-96 all-time against Franklin & Marshall.
The game marked F&M's second straight nail biter Hines tipped in a missed shot by Smith with a left-handed lay-up with less than a second on the game clock on February 4 to defeat Muhlenberg College 65-64 in the Mayser Center.
The win pulls the Diplomats (11-11, 6-9 Centennial Conference) to within a game of Muhlenberg College (12-10, 7-8 CC) and Haverford College (9-12, 7-8 CC) for the fifth place in the Centennial Conference standings. Muhlenberg remained ahead of F&M with a 95-43 win over Swarthmore College, while Haverford stayed in front courtesy an 85-75 victory over #4 seed Washington College (10-12, 8-7 CC).
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on February 11 at Washington College in the final regular season away game of the 2006 season. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
