COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – No. 8 Franklin & Marshall used a 14-0 run to erase an eight-point deficit en route to a 63-54 victory over Ursinus in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action. The Diplomats improved to 19-1, 12-1 CC while the Bears fell to 7-13, 6-7 CC.
Trailing, 39-31, almost four minutes into the second half, F&M strung together the game-changing run that spanned over five minutes. Five players scored in the run with Georgio Milligan hitting two from the stripe to start the run and Matt Porter's connection on a jumper at 9:14 put F&M up 45-39.
F&M extended its lead to 10, 53-43, with 6:23 remaining courtesy of two Morgan Leejumpers and a Milligan bucket. Pat Vasturia hit a trey to bring the Bears within seven, but that was as close as they would get as F&M matched each bucket down the stretch to come away with the victory.
The Diplomats jumped out to an early 10-2 lead five minutes into the contest before the Bears came battling back. Ursinus used a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to come within two, 14-12 at 11:48. F&M countered with five unanswered points to go up seven, but Ursinus would not back down.
The Bears rattled off eight straight points to take their first lead of the game, 20-19, with 6:33 remaining in the opening half. Five ties and five lead changes ensued over the final six minutes of the half with Ursinus taking 34-31 lead into the break.
The Bears scored four straight during the first four minutes of the second stanza to go up 39-31, setting up F&M's run.
Milligan scored a game-high 19 points and dished out seven assists. The senior passed Don Marsh '79 and moved into the second spot on F&M's all-time scoring list. Milligan has 1,706 career points and is 91 points shy of overtaking James McNally '11 as the all-time scoring leader.
Jon Salandra added 17 points and seven board and Lee finished with eight. Ed Earlyand Hayk Gyokchyan both tallied six points.
Jon Ward scored a team-high 17 points for Ursinus and Vasturia finished with 11.
F&M returns to action on Saturday when the Diplomats travel to Muhlenberg for a 4:00 p.m. game.
No. 9 FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 63, URSINUS 54
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (19-1, 12-1 CC)
Georgio Milligan 4-12 9-14 19; Jon Salandra 5-9 7-11 17; Morgan Lee 3-3 2-4 8; Hayk Gyokchyan 2-9 1-2 6; Ed Early 3-4 0-2 6; Matt Porter 2-5 0-0 4; Brandon Beckford 1-6 1-2 3; Austin Alecxih 0-1 0-0 0; Kevin Henry 0-1 0-0 0; Max Brewer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-51 20-35 63.
URSINUS (7-13, 6-7 CC)
Jon Ward 3-8 11-14 17; Pat Vasturia 2-6 6-7 11; Trey Harry 4-6 0-0 8; Jesse Krasna 2-6 2-4 7; Kevin Janowski 2-6 0-0 4; Matt Donahue 1-4 0-0 3; Jermaine Kamara 1-2 0-1 2; Scott Niewiadomski 1-1 0-0 2; Ryan Adams 0-3 0-0 0; JJ Rapczynski 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-43 19-26 54.
Franklin & Marshall........... 31 32 - 63
Ursinus....................... 34 20 - 54
3-point goals--Franklin & Marshall 3-13 (Georgio Milligan 2-4; Hayk Gyokchyan 1-2; Matt Porter 0-1; Brandon Beckford 0-4; Austin Alecxih 0-1; Max Brewer 0-1), Ursinus 3-16 (Pat Vasturia 1-4; Matt Donahue 1-2; Jesse Krasna 1-4; Ryan Adams 0-1; JJ Rapczynski 0-1; Kevin Janowski 0-3; Trey Harry 0-1).
Fouled out--Franklin & Marshall-Ed Early; Hayk Gyokchyan, Ursinus-None.
Rebounds--Franklin & Marshall 33 (Jon Salandra 7), Ursinus 40 (Jermaine Kamara 10).
Assists--Franklin & Marshall 15 (Georgio Milligan 7), Ursinus 12 (JJ Rapczynski 4).
Total fouls--Franklin & Marshall 24, Ursinus 24.
Technical fouls--Franklin & Marshall-None, Ursinus-None. A-134