Feb. 3, 2007

Box Score

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Tom Scott's free throws with 2.2 ticks left on the clock gave Muhlenberg a 71-69 win over Franklin & Marshall in Centennial Conference men's basketball action Saturday. For the fifth time this season, the Diplomats (7-14, 6-8 CC) let a second-half, double-digit lead slip away, allowing the Mules (6-14, 5-9 CC) to snap an eight-game losing streak that began back on January 9 at the Mayser Center.

Franklin & Marshall led by as many as 18 points, and still held 17 with 13:43 left. Then began the collapse. Muhlenberg went on a five-minute, 19-4 run to claim a one-point lead 58-57, with 6:07 left in the game.

The teams swapped leads three times before Jimmie Riggins put the Mules ahead for good, 62-61, with 3:15 left in the game. They stretched it to six with little more than two minutes left in the game, but Adam Leonard's fourth and fifth trey of the game, broken up only by a Scott free throw, made it 68-67 Muhlenberg with 16 seconds showing.

Andrew McCaffrey fouled Chris Huber with eight ticks. Huber sunk the back-end of his pair to make it 69-67. Franklin & Marshall pushed the ball up the floor to Logan Outerbridge who drew a foul with 2.7 seconds in the game. He hit his pair to make it 69-69.

Following a Mules' timeout, Riggins hurled a pass to Scott at the opposite foul line. Derek Hines was immediately hit with a foul, sending Scott to the line with 2.2 ticks for his game-high 18th and 19th points. He also led all players with 11 rebounds.

The Diplomats opened the game on a tear with a 15-4 run over the first eight minutes. Leonard accounted for eight of the first ten points, including the first six, nailing three-pointers on the Diplomats second and fourth possessions. Leonard had 11 first half points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range. He hit on each of his four field goal attempts in the period. He finished the game with 17.

The Diplomats return to action on Wednesday when F&M hosts Dickinson.