LANCASTER, Pa. – Georgio Milligan scored a game-high 22 points to lead No. 9 Franklin & Marshall to a 72-50 victory over York in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday evening. The Diplomats (26-2) will face Western Connecticut, a 94-84 winner over No. 25 Christopher Newport, tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. in the Mayser Center. Tickets will go on sale at 5:30 p.m. in the Mayser Lobby.
The opening ten minutes of the game was a battle as neither team took more than a four-point edge. F&M went up six points, 20-14, at 9:29 on a trey by Hayk Gyokchyan. York (18-11) quickly responded and came within three, 21-19, on a three by Mitch Kemp with 8:41 remaining in the half.
The Diplomats countered with an 18-4 run over a seven and half-minute span to blow the game wide open and take a 40-23 edge at 1:16. Matt Porter scored seven of his 14 points in the run and F&M went into break with a 41-25 lead.
York opened the second half with a 6-2 run to come within 12, 43-31, four minutes in. The teams exchanged baskets over the next minute before Milligan stepped his game up and had a hand in every point of F&M's 7-0 run. Milligan started the run off with a trey, fed Porter for an alley-oop and finished the run with a dunk to put the Diplomats up 52-33 with 13:27 left to play.
F&M extended its lead to 21, 56-35, at 10:41 and never trailed by more than 18 the remainder of the game. The Diplomats took its largest lead of the game, 66-39, at 5:11 and cruised to the 72-50 final.
Milligan also collected nine boards and dished out six assists. Gyokchyan finished with 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting and Ed Early tallied 10. Jon Salandra grabbed a game-high 12 boards.
Paul Kouvaris led the way for York with 16 points and no other Spartan reached double-figures.
F&M held a commanding 42-31 edge on the glass and outshot the Spartans 50% to 36%.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 72, YORK COLLEGE 50
YORK COLLEGE (18-11)
Paul Kouvaris 8-15 0-0 16; Julian Watson 3-9 2-2 8; Todd Maciejewski 3-9 0-0 6; Mitch Kemp 2-5 0-0 6; Andrew Pawlyk 1-7 1-2 3; Jeremy Skoloda 1-3 0-0 3; Mo Oursler 1-7 1-1 3; Brian Stevko 1-1 0-0 3; Max Resnick 1-1 0-0 2; Steve Garlock 0-0 0-0 0; Matt McNeely 0-1 0-0 0; Adam Earle 0-0 0-0 0; Chad Styer 0-1 0-0 0; Jordan Martz 0-0 0-0 0; Brandon Enck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-59 4-5 50.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (26-2)
Georgio Milligan 10-21 1-1 22; Hayk Gyokchyan 7-9 1-3 17; Matt Porter 6-10 1-2 14; Ed Early 5-7 0-1 10; Morgan Lee 2-4 0-0 4; Jon Salandra 1-5 1-2 3; Max Brewer 1-2 0-0 2; Austin Alecxih 0-0 0-0 0; Kevin Henry 0-2 0-0 0; Nick Mraz 0-0 0-0 0; Terrel Phelps 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Beckford 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 32-64 4-9 72.
York College.................. 25 25 - 50
Franklin & Marshall........... 41 31 - 72
3-point goals--York College 4-9 (Mitch Kemp 2-4; Jeremy Skoloda 1-1; Brian Stevko 1-1; Mo Oursler 0-2; Chad Styer 0-1), Franklin & Marshall 4-9 (Hayk Gyokchyan 2-3; Matt Porter 1-1; Georgio Milligan 1-4; Max Brewer 0-1).
Fouled out--York College-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.
Rebounds—York College 31 (Paul Kouvaris 7), Franklin & Marshall 42 (Jon Salandra 12).
Assists—York College 5 (Paul Kouvaris 2), Franklin & Marshall 16 (Georgio Milligan 6).
Total fouls--York College 11, Franklin & Marshall 14.
Technical fouls--York College-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.
A-2023