LANCASTER, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team was 16 points clear of visiting Elizabethtown in Saturday's 81-40 home-opener victory that marked the first victory for head coach
Tim Sweeney. The Diplomats offense shot 47.1% on field goals while containing the Blue Jays to a 24.4% field goal percentage.
Nick Nsenkyre led the offense with 19 points, shooting 8-of-14 (57.1%) on field goals and 3-of-4 (75.0%) on free throws with six rebounds.
JT Lindi led the side with seven assists and five steals on a day where the Diplomats drew a 12-21 turnover advantage and generated 25 points from turnovers.
Steve Donahue recorded 13 points, while
Sean Donovan had nine rebounds and eight points. In addition to the turnover supremacy, F&M outpaced the Blue Jays in rebounds, 46-31.
Nsenkyire helped the Diplomats jump out to an early 5-2 lead on a three and a layup through the first four minutes. F&M held a 6-5 lead when a
Bryson Amos-Whitfield triple began a nine-point run over the next three minutes that was capped by another three from Nsenkyire, giving F&M a 16-5 advantage. The sides traded buckets over the next few minutes before Etown closed within six points on a 5-0 run in a thirty second span. F&M recovered with a 5-0 run in response with a steal and layup from Nsenkyire followed by a three from Donahue to lead 29-18 with 2:51 to play. F&M outscored the Blue Jays 11-6 in the remaining time to lead by 16 points at the halftime break.
F&M continued to build on their lead in the second half while holding Etown to a 10.5% (2-of-19) field goal percentage and denying all six of their three-point attempt. The sides traded a few free throughs each through the opening five minutes of the second half.
Landon Brownstein began a 5-0 run with a shot outside the arc that push F&M's lead to 19 points with 14 minutes to play. An Amos-Whitfield three moments later began a 13-4 run over the next four minutes with dunks from Donahue and
Ehi Ataga that extended the lead to 59-33 with nine minutes left to play. Etown broke up the run with a pair of free throws followed by seven unanswered F&M points including four from
Asad Syed and another three from Nsenkyire. F&M continued to build on its now 30-point lead in the remaining time. The final five minutes saw four points apiece from
Quin Frasher and Lindi with a three from
Gunther Neumann.
The Diplomats are back at the Mayser Center to host Marymount on Wednesday, November 18, at 7:30 p.m.
