Box Score

KINGS POINT, N.Y. - In front of a traveling contingent of Franklin & Marshall faithful, a group that brought the Mayser Center atmosphere to New York, the Diplomats edged out a 73-64 victory over the U.S. Merchant Marines Saturday.

F&M (25-4) will advance to Friday's Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Tournament to face St. Mary's (Md.) at a location to be determined. The Seahawks defeated Virginia Wesleyan 72-69.

F&M trailed by three points, 45-42, four minutes into the second half, as the Mariners (24-5) erased the Diplomats 42-37 halftime lead. F&M answered with a 13-5 run spanning over five minutes to take a 57-50 advantage at 11:43. As they did all night, the Mariners fought back with 5-0 run to come within two.

Both teams traded buckets over a four-minute gap and the Diplomats held onto a two-point edge, 61-59, with 5:30 left in the game. F&M finally pulled away with an 11-2 run over the final five minutes to lead by 11 points, 72-61, with 23 seconds remaining. Scott Rattigan drained a trey on the ensuing possession for the Mariners, but Georgio Milligan hit the back end of his two free throws to secure the  win.

The first half started out in a defensive battle as both team struggled to hit their shots. Only 12 points were scored in the first five minutes before both offense's stepped up. Steve Tolliver's trey at 10:07 gave F&M a 21-14 lead. The Merchant Marines countered with a 13-6 run to tie the game at 27 with 5:56 left in the half.

F&M scored six unanswered points before the Mariners clawed their way to back to come within a point, 36-25, with 1:49 left in the first. The Diplomats closed out the half on a 6-2 run to take a 42-37 advantage into the break.

James McNally picked up his 12th double-double of the year with 19 points and 13 rebounds, both game-highs. McNally shot 6-for-14 from the field and hit seven of his 11 shots from the stripe.

The Diplomats held a commanding 46-33 advantage on the glass, picking up 15 on the offensive side, resulting in 14 second-chance points.

Anthony Brooks and Georgio Milligan both scored in double-digits for F&M. Milligan had 16 points on 50% shooting and Brooks contributed 14. Milligan also had three blocks and a steal. Mike Baker and Tolliver netted eight and seven points respectively.

Three Mariners scored in double-figures. Kevin Kerr scored 17 points shooting 5-for-7 from behind the arc. Matt Hueber and Tom Izzo added 16 and 12 points for the Merchant Marines.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 73, U.S. MERCHANT MARINE 64

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (25-4)

James McNally 6-14 7-11 19; Georgio Milligan 6-12 4-7 16; Anthony Brooks 5-13 4-8 14; Steve Tolliver 3-4 0-0 8; Mike Baker 3-8 1-2 7; Justin Driver 2-4 1-2 5; Hayk Gyokchyan 1-1 2-2 4; Sal Salvati 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Beckford 0-0 0-0 0; David Balderston 0-0 0-0 0; Kevin Henry 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 19-32 73.

U.S. MERCHANT MARINE (24-5)

Kevin Kerr 6-11 0-0 17; Matt Hueber 5-11 6-6 16; Tom Izzo 4-13 2-2 12; Ryan Samuel 3-14 2-3 8; Richard Roach 3-7 0-0 6; Scott Rattigan 1-2 0-0 3; Jon Snead 1-4 0-0 2; Patrick Farrell 0-0 0-0 0; Josh Beck 0-0 0-0 0; Frankie Wiseley 0-1 0-0 0; Anthony Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Bryan Lynch 0-1 0-0 0; Chad Ray 0-0 0-0 0; Denver Effland 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-64 10-11 64.

Franklin & Marshall...........   42   31  -   73

U.S. Merchant Marine..........   37   27  -   64

3-point goals--Franklin & Marshall 2-7 (Steve Tolliver 2-3; Anthony Brooks 0-2; Justin Driver 0-1; Sal Salvati 0-1), U.S. Merchant Marine 8-20 (Kevin Kerr 5-7; Tom Izzo 2-6; Scott Rattigan 1-1; Jon Snead 0-1; Frankie Wiseley 0-1; Bryan Lynch 0-1; Ryan Samuel 0-3).

Fouled out--Franklin & Marshall-None, U.S. Merchant Marine-Ryan Samuel.

Rebounds--Franklin & Marshall 46 (James McNally 13), U.S. Merchant Marine 33 (Matt Hueber 10).

Assists--Franklin & Marshall 12 (Georgio Milligan 5), U.S. Merchant Marine 12 (Matt Hueber 4; Ryan Samuel 4).

Total fouls--Franklin & Marshall 16, U.S. Merchant Marine 24.

Technical fouls--Franklin & Marshall-None, U.S. Merchant Marine-None.