Box Score
LANCASTER, Pa. - Duran Searles
scored a game-high 14 points, including four 3-pointers, to
lead 15th-ranked Franklin & Marshall past Gettysburg 63-52
in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on Saturday.
Steve Juskin added 11 points
and Asaf Ganot continued to bedevil the Bullets
(7-9, 3-1 CC) with 10 points, seven rebounds, four blocks
and three assists, helping the Diplomats (13-2, 3-1 CC) move
into a tie for first place in the CC West Division with Gettysburg.
Dami Oloruntoba (Glenn Dale, MD/Eleanor
Roosevelt) led the Bullets with 10 points and matched
a career high with 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double
of the season. Doug Loveland (Oceanport, NJ/Christian
Brothers Acad.) chipped in with a career-best 10 points.
Team leading scorer David Glaser (West Chester, PA/Malvern
Prep) added nine while being limited to 24 minutes
due to foul trouble.
Coming off a last-minute upset loss to Ursinus
on Wednesday, Franklin & Marshall bounced back thanks to the
clutch shooting of Searles and timely defense.
The Diplomats never trailed on the night,
taking a quick 5-0 lead on a put-back from Frank Hughes
and Searles' first 3-pointer in the opening 1:27. Another
Searles triple made it 8-2 and Jackeim Wright,
the squad's top 3-point shooter, knocked down his only trey
to make it 11-4 seconds after Glaser took his second foul.
The Bullets scrapped back to 13-10 on a layup
from Brad Billmeier (Pennington, NJ/Hopewell Valley),
who left the game with an injury seconds later and did not
return to the game, forcing Glaser back into the game.
On Gettysburg's next possession, Glaser was
called for a charge and spent the rest of the half on the
bench.
Hughes scored on a spinning layup and Brandon
Smith knocked down a 3-pointer to push the lead to
18-10 and a 3-point play by Ganot made it 24-15 with 6:06
left in the half.
The Bullets, however, hung around in the
final minutes before halftime. Kyle Jakobe (Baltimore,
MD/McDonogh/Peddie [NJ]), a sophomore transfer who
played at F&M in 2001-02, scored in a driving baseline layup
and Ryan Page (Silver Spring, MD/St. John's College
[DC]) knocked down a trey to key a 7-2 burst that
made it 26-22 F&M at the break.
Oloruntoba scored on a backdoor layup to
open the half, but Gettysburg would get no closer the rest
of the way.
Juskin drilled a jumper and Searles converted
a steal-and-layup to fuel an 8-0 Diplomat run that made it
34-24 with 17:08 left. The F&M defense also turned up the
heat, holding the Bullets scoreless for 3 minutes, 33 seconds
until Loveland converted a pair of free throws to pull within
34-26.
Searles quickly returned the lead to double
digits with a 3-pointer on F&M's next trip down the floor.
Reggie Davis' (Longwood, FL/Wm. Penn Charter [PA])
3-pointer cut the lead to 39-32 with 13:00 left, but Searles
restored order with his fourth and final trey for a 42-32
edge.
Two charity tosses from Jeff Bright
gave the Diplomats a 46-34 cushion with 7:33 remaining and
the Bullets would get no closer than seven in the final minutes.
Glaser finished with seven rebounds to go
along with his nine points.
Hughes posted eight points and eight rebounds
for Franklin & Marshall.
Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday
at home against McDaniel. Game time is 8 p.m.
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