LANCASTER, Pa. -- No. 19 Franklin & Marshall handed Haverford a 71-62 defeat to advance to its third straight Centennial Conference (CC) Championship game. The Diplomats will host Dickinson for the CC title tomorrow at 3 p.m. The Red Devils defeated Gettysburg 71-62 in the other CC semifinal game.

F&M advances to its 11th CC Championship Game since conference play began in 1994.  The game was the 52nd conference postseason contest under coach Robinson and the 37th victory. The win was the first on the newly named Glenn Robinson Court and gives the Diplomats a chance for their sixth CC crown and 22nd NCAA appearance.

With F&M down five, 44-39, early in the second half Georgio Milligan showed why he was just named the CC Player of the Year. Milligan scored eight, of his team-high 18 points, in a 15-0 Diplomats' run that changed the game for good.  The run spanned almost five minutes to the 10:50 mark and included scores by Hayk Gyokchyan, James McNally and Steve Tolliver.

The Diplomats (21-5) built their lead to 11 points on a Gyokchyan trey at 6:58, before Haverford battled back. Brett Cohen scored six-straight points to put the Fords within five and Sam Permutt's bucket at 3:50 made it a 61-58 with 3:50 remaining in the game.

Steve Tolliver drained two from the stripe and a McNally steal led to a Milligan free throw that put the Diplomats up six at 1:56. Bo Friddell cut the Fords' deficit to four, 64-60, before the Diplomats put the game away from the foul line. F&M closed out the game shooting 7-for-8 from the line to advance to the championship game.

Haverford (14-12) opened up the contest with a 17-7 run seven minutes into the game. A McNally jumper at 9:48 put F&M within three, 19-16, before the Fords outscored the Diplomats 8-4 to hold a 27-20 edge at 7:36. F&M countered with a 10-3 run to tie the game at 30 with 4:04 remaining in the half. The teams traded buckets down the stretch with the Diplomats holding a 35-34 edge going into the break.

Gyokchyan finished with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting and added five steals. Tolliver netted 13 going 4-for-4 from the line and McNally scored 11 points. Mike Baker finished with 10 points and five boards.

Permutt paced the Fords with a game-high 19 points. Cam Baker and Ian Goldberg both finished with 12 for Haverford.

F&M collected 11 steals resulting in 25 points off of turnovers. The Diplomats shot 76% from the charity stripe and outshot the Fords 44% to 38% from behind the arc.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 71, HAVERFORD 62

HAVERFORD (14-12)
Sam Permutt 8-15 3-4 19; Cam Baker 4-8 3-5 12; Ian Goldberg 4-8 0-0 12; Brett Cohen 4-4 0-0 8; Bo Friddell 3-5 0-0 7; Lekan O-Nicholson 1-3 0-0 2; Louis Cipriano 1-3 0-0 2; Joel Michel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-46 6-9 62.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (21-5)
Georgio Milligan 6-12 4-7 18; Hayk Gyokchyan 5-6 3-4 14; Steve Tolliver 3-8 4-4 13; James McNally 4-10 3-4 11; Mike Baker 5-8 0-0 10; Max Brewer 1-4 2-2 5; Brandon Beckford 0-2 0-0 0; Matt Porter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-50 16-21 71.

Haverford.....................   34   28  -   62
Franklin & Marshall...........   35   36  -   71

3-point goals--Haverford 6-16 (Ian Goldberg 4-7; Bo Friddell 1-2; Cam Baker 1-3; Louis Cipriano 0-2; Lekan O-Nicholson 0-1; Sam Permutt 0-1), Franklin & Marshall 7-16 (Steve Tolliver 3-8; Georgio Milligan 2-4; Hayk Gyokchyan 1-1; Max Brewer 1-2; Brandon Beckford 0-1).

Fouled out--Haverford-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.

Rebounds--Haverford 26 (Sam Permutt 11), Franklin & Marshall 21 (Mike Baker 5).

Assists--Haverford 14 (Ian Goldberg 7), Franklin & Marshall 15 (Max Brewer 4).

Total fouls--Haverford 17, Franklin & Marshall 9.

Technical fouls--Haverford-None, Franklin & Marshall-None.

A-1632