Box Score
Box Score | Pictures
LANCASTER, Pa. -- Often overshadowed by his teammates, Franklin
& Marshall's understated center Mike Baker was cast into the
limelight with 3.7 seconds remaining in the Centennial Conference
(CC) championship game. The Diplomats big man finally put
Gettysburg away at the line, after F&M failed to convert on
five trips to the stripe inside of the final two minutes.
Baker missed the front end with the Diplomats in double bonus.
His second shot made it a two-possession game, 66-62, sealing
Franklin & Marshall's fifth CC title and 16th conference
championship in the program's vaunted history.
The tight finish was necessitated by a furious comeback attempt
by Gettysburg.
Baker finished with his third double-double of the season
scoring 11 points and collecting 14 boards.
F&M held a 15-point lead with 12:24 remaining before
Gettysburg came alive. The Bullets went on an Andrew Powers led
20-4 run to take a one-point lead at 5:47. Powers scored 11 points
of his game-high 28 in the run. The Diplomats responded with an 8-2
run of their own to lead by five with just over a minute
remaining.
The teams traded two shots each from the stripe and Kevin
Kennedy's layup with 14 seconds left put Gettysburg within three.
Powers missed a trey eight seconds later and Baker came away with
the board and was immediately fouled, setting up his game-clinching
foul shot.
The game started out as a defensive battle with only 25 points
going on board midway through the opening stanza. Anthony Brooks'
jumper at 6:41 gave F&M a 20-15 lead. The Diplomats
finished the half strong on 16-6 run to take a 36-21 edge into the
break.
In addition to Baker, three other players scored in
double-figures for F&M. Brooks scored a team-high 16 points
shooting 70% from the floor. James McNally and Georgio Milligan
scored 13 points each. Baker and McNally posted three blocks apiece
as the Diplomats finished with nine blocks in the game.
Kennedy scored 12 points for the Bullets. Alex Zurn and Brendan
Hager dropped in seven and six points respectively.
The game marked the fourth time the Diplomats and Bullets have
played for a CC trophy with each team winning two apiece. Coach
Glenn Robinson ties Lou Henson for the 15th spot on the
all-time NCAA victory list with the win, with 779 in his
career.
F&M will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The
NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Committee will make its
selection of teams for the 2010 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball
Championship tonight.
The announcement will be presented via webcast on www.NCAA.com beginning at 10 a.m. Eastern time
Monday. The bracket will also be posted on www.NCAA.com at approximately 10:30
a.m.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 66, GETTYSBURG 62
GETTYSBURG (15-11)
Andrew Powers 11-23 5-6 28; Kevin Kennedy 5-14 0-0 12; Alex Zurn
3-5 1-2 7; Brendan Hager 2-5 0-0 6; Brendan Trelease 2-5 0-0 5; Tim
Lang 2-4 0-0 4; Chip Naddaff 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Bohan 0-3 0-0 0;
Christian Bors 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 6-8 62.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (23-4)
Anthony Brooks 7-10 1-4 16; Georgio Milligan 3-8 7-11 13; James
McNally 6-13 1-2 13; Mike Baker 5-10 1-2 11; Hayk Gyokchyan 3-4 0-0
6; Steve Tolliver 1-4 2-2 5; Brandon Beckford 1-4 0-0 2; Sal
Salvati 0-0 0-0 0; Justin Driver 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 12-21
66.
Gettysburg.................... 21
41 - 62
Franklin & Marshall........... 36
30 - 66
3-point goals--Gettysburg 6-21 (Brendan Hager
2-5; Kevin Kennedy 2-6; Andrew Powers 1-4; Brendan Trelease 1-4;
Alex Zurn 0-2), Franklin & Marshall 2-5 (Anthony Brooks 1-1;
Steve Tolliver 1-1; Mike Baker 0-1; Georgio Milligan 0-2).
Fouled out--Gettysburg-None, Franklin &
Marshall-None.
Rebounds--Gettysburg 30 (Alex Zurn 8), Franklin
& Marshall 34 (Mike Baker 14).
Assists--Gettysburg 14 (Brendan Hager 9),
Franklin & Marshall 13 (Georgio Milligan 5).
Total fouls--Gettysburg 17, Franklin &
Marshall 10.
Technical fouls--Gettysburg-None, Franklin
& Marshall-None.
A-1116
