LANCASTER, Pa. – No. 17 Franklin & Marshall defeated No. 15 St. Mary's 77-68 in non-conference basketball action Saturday evening. F&M has won six out of seven meetings with the Seahawks and improved to 4-0 on the season.
The Diplomats dominated the majority of game, never trailing, and leading by as much as 19 points. Hayk Gyokchyan's jumper at 7:23 gave F&M an 18-point, 63-45, lead, before the Seahawks (3-2) answered. St. Mary's put together a 21-8 run spanning almost seven minutes to come within five points, 71-66, with 41 seconds remaining in the game.
Max Brewer was clutch down the stretch, hitting all four of his free throws in the final 36 seconds of the game. The first pair put F&M up seven, 73-66, with 36 ticks on the clock. Kyle Wise scored a quick bucket for St. Mary's, but Georgio Milligan countered with two shots from the line to put F&M back up by seven. Wise turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and Brewer sank two from the stripe with 15 second left for the 77-68 final.
The game started out slow as both teams settled in. F&M clung to a 16-11 lead at 10:27 before blowing the game wide open. The Diplomats put together a 23-6 run over eight minutes to go up 39-21 with 2:53 left in the first half. The teams traded buckets down the stretch and F&M went into the break with a 43-27 edge.
Georgio Milligan scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Diplomats. Milligan went an astounding 8-for-10 from the field, 2-for-2 from the arc and 8-for-9 from the stripe. Gyokchyan contributed 22 points with three steals. Kevin Henry finished with seven while Jon Salandra, Brandon Beckford and Brewer each scored six apiece.
F&M forced 26 turnovers, which resulted in 30 points and outshot the Seahawks 57% to 50% from field goal range.
Chris Hutchinson scored a team-high 17 points for the Seahawks and Christinan MacAuley finished with 16 points and a game-high seven boards.
F&M returns to action on Monday when the Diplomats travel to Lancaster Bible for an 8:00 p.m. game.
No. 17 FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 77, No. 15 ST. MARY'S 68
ST. MARY'S (3-2)
Chris Hutchinson 6-9 5-7 17; Christian MacAuley 5-9 6-6 16; Deon Queen 4-7 0-0 9; Kyle Wise 2-5 3-4 7; Nick LaGuerre 2-3 0-0 5; Mike Fitzpatrick 2-3 0-0 5; MacGyver Biniak 2-2 0-0 4; Jeff Haus 1-3 0-0 2; Brian Grashof 1-6 0-0 2; Brendan McFall 0-2 1-2 1; J.D. Garris 0-0 0-0 0; DeVohn Gilmore 0-1 0-0 0; Jerome Tolson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 15-19 68.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (4-0)
Georgio Milligan 8-10 8-9 26; Hayk Gyokchyan 11-19 0-1 22; Kevin Henry 3-5 1-2 7; Max Brewer 1-3 4-4 6; Jon Salandra 3-3 0-1 6; Brandon Beckford 2-8 1-2 6; Matt Porter 1-3 2-2 4; Ty Savastio 0-0 0-0 0; Ed Early 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-51 16-21 77.
St. Mary's 27 41 68
Franklin & Marshall 43 34 77
3-point goals--St. Mary's 3-6 (Nick LaGuerre 1-1; Mike Fitzpatrick 1-1; Deon Queen 1-2; Brendan McFall 0-1; Christian MacAuley 0-1), Franklin & Marshall 3-7 (Georgio Milligan 2-2; Brandon Beckford 1-3; Max Brewer 0-1; Hayk Gyokchyan 0-1).
Fouled out--St. Mary's-Chris Hutchinson, Franklin & Marshall-Kevin Henry.
Rebounds--St. Mary's 23 (Christian MacAuley 7), Franklin & Marshall 19 (Kevin Henry 6).
Assists--St. Mary's 5 (Christian MacAuley 3), Franklin & Marshall 12 (Kevin Henry 3; Georgio Milligan 3).
Total fouls--St. Mary's 23, Franklin & Marshall 21.
Technical fouls--St. Mary's-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.
A-988