LANCASTER, Pa. – No. 14 Franklin & Marshall defeated Gettysburg 60-53 in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Wednesday evening. The Diplomats (20-2, 13-2 CC) can secure the top-seed in the conference and earn the right to host the CC tournament with a win against Swarthmore on Saturday.
Jon Salandra's free throws with 2:16 remaining in the game stopped a 6-0 Gettysburg (9-13, 6-9 CC) run, and gave F&M a two-point, 52-50, lead. Georgio Milligan scored four-straight points to put F&M up six, 56-50, before Brendan Trelease hit a trey to bring Gettysburg within three points with 23 seconds remaining. Milligan went to line seconds later and hit both shots to make it a two-possession game, 58-53, with 20 seconds left. The Bullets failed to score on their next trip down the court and Max Brewer drained two from the stripe to give F&M the 60-53 victory.
Gettysburg opened the second half with a 13-5 run over the first eight minutes to take a 33-31 lead at 12:43. F&M quickly responded with five-straight points to go up 36-33. The teams traded points over the next three minutes and Gettysburg tied the game at 42 with 8:13 left. The Diplomats answered with an 8-2 run to take a 50-44 edge with 3:55 left which set up Gettysburg's 6-0 run and the final minutes of action.
The game started out slow as both teams settled in with F&M leading, 13-5, eight minutes into the game. The Diplomats maintained at least a six-point edge over the next five minutes before Gettysburg got within five, 17-12, at 7:44. F&M scored four straight to go up nine points, but the Bullets answered with a 6-0 run to come within three, 21-18, with 3:12 remaining in the opening half. F&M outscored Gettysburg 5-to-2 over the final minutes of the half to take a 26-20 lead into the break.
Milligan led all scorers with 13 points, shooting 6-for-7 from the stripe. Salandra shot 5-for-9 from floor for 12 points and pulled down a team-high seven boards. Ed Earlytallied 12 while Brandon Beckford and Matt Porter both finished with seven points.
Derek Brooks and Trelease both scored 10 points for the Bullets.
Glenn Robinson picked up his 825th victory and is four wins shy of moving past Clarence Gainies for the 10th spot on the NCAA all-time coaching wins list.
F&M returns to the court on Saturday when the Diplomats host Swarthmore at 4:00 p.m.
No. 14 FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 60, GETTYSBURG 53
GETTYSBURG (9-13, 6-9 CC)
Brendan Trelease 2-4 4-4 10; Derek Brooks 5-11 0-0 10; Alex Zurn 2-8 5-5 9; Tim Lang 3-5 0-0 7; Christian Bors 2-4 2-3 6; Benjamin Constable 1-3 3-4 5; Joe Emerusabe 2-2 0-0 4; Christian Healy 0-0 2-2 2; Larry Geedey 0-0 0-0 0; Sean Gordon 0-5 0-0 0; Connor Poston 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 17-44 16-20 53.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (20-2, 13-2 CC)
Georgio Milligan 3-13 6-7 13; Jon Salandra 5-9 2-3 12; Ed Early 4-8 4-6 12; Matt Porter 2-4 2-2 7; Brandon Beckford 2-4 3-3 7; Max Brewer 1-2 2-2 5; Hayk Gyokchyan 1-5 0-0 2; Morgan Lee 1-4 0-2 2; Kevin Henry 0-0 0-0 0; Brett McCormick 0-1 0-0 0; Austin Alecxih 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-51 19-25 60.
Gettysburg.................... 20 33 - 53
Franklin & Marshall........... 26 34 - 60
3-point goals--Gettysburg 3-10 (Brendan Trelease 2-4; Tim Lang 1-2; Alex Zurn 0-2; Sean Gordon 0-1; Derek Brooks 0-1), Franklin & Marshall 3-8 (Max Brewer 1-1; Matt Porter 1-1; Georgio Milligan 1-3; Brandon Beckford 0-1; Brett McCormick 0-1; Austin Alecxih 0-1).
Fouled out--Gettysburg-Christian Bors, Franklin & Marshall-None.
Rebounds--Gettysburg 36 (Derek Brooks 8), Franklin & Marshall 30 (Jon Salandra 7).
Assists--Gettysburg 7 (Tim Lang 4), Franklin & Marshall 11 (Max Brewer 3).
Total fouls--Gettysburg 20, Franklin & Marshall 18.
Technical fouls--Gettysburg-None, Franklin & Marshall None.
A-1023