LANCASTER, Pa. – Hayk Gyokchyan scored a team-high 23 points to lead No. 12 Franklin & Marshall to a 100-69 defeat over Washington in the Centennial Conference semifinals. The Diplomats advanced to their fourth-straight title game tomorrow evening at 7:00 p.m. against Muhlenberg, a 65-62 winner over Dickinson, in Lancaster.
F&M advances to its 12th CC Championship Game since conference play began in 1994. The Diplomats will look to win their seventh CC Crown, third straight, and 18th overall conference titles, which includes 11 MAC championships.
The Diplomats (24-2) started out with a 15-3 run and never trailed as they hit the centaury mark for the first time this season. Washington (14-13) came within eight, 18-10, at the 13-minute mark, but that was as close as they would get, as F&M scored 10 straight to go up 28-10 at 10:07. The Diplomats took their largest lead of the half, 37-18, at 5:56 and went into the break with a 52-33 edge.
F&M continued where it left off in the first half and opened the second with a 12-6 run to go up 25, 64-39. The Diplomats slowly increased their lead and went up 86-55 at 5:46. F&M took a 34-point edge, 96-62, on a three by Max Brewer with 2:07 left and added four more down the stretch.
Gyokchyan shot 9-for-15 from the floor, went 5-for-5 from the line, and finished with a game-high nine boards. Georgio Milligan scored 15 points on 6-for-13 shooting and dished out eight assists. Ed Early and Jon Salandra both tallied 10 points apiece. Early was 4-for-7 and Salandra went 4-for-4 from the floor with seven rebounds. Brandon Beckford dropped in nine and Brewer finished with eight points.
Kevin Breslin scored a game-high 26 points for the Shoremen. Tony Hawkins netted 13 and Sal Schittino finished with nine.
The Diplomats shot 58% from the floor and limited Washington to just 26% shooting.
Glenn Robinson picked up career-win 829 and took over the 10th spot on the NCAA all-time coaching wins list.
No. 12 FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 100, WASHINGTON COLLEGE 69
WASHINGTON COLLEGE (14-13)
Kevin Breslin 7-18 12-13 26; Tony Hawkins 3-8 5-6 13; Sal Schittino 1 12 6-6 9; Max Finch 2-3 1-2 5; Charlie McShane 1-2 2-3 5; Adam Naymick 0-1 3-4 3; Kevin Cunningham 0-7 2-4 2; James Hetzel 1-1 0-0 2; Chris Olsen 1-5 0-0 2; Sean Flanigan 1-3 0-0 2; Mark DeBoy 0-5 0-0 0; Ryan Kearney 0-1 0-0 0; John Weston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-66 31-38 69.
FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (24-2)
Hayk Gyokchyan 9-15 5-5 23; Georgio Milligan 6-13 2-5 15; Ed Early 4 7 2-4 10; Jon Salandra 4-4 2-3 10; Brandon Beckford 3-7 3-4 9; Max Brewer 2-2 2-2 8; Matt Porter 2-4 3-4 7; Kevin Henry 3-3 0-0 6; Morgan Lee 2-6 2-2 6; Xavier Braham 2-3 0-0 4; Brett McCormick 1-1 0-0 2; Ty Savastio 0-0 0-0 0; Nick Mraz 0-0 0-0 0;Terrel Phelps 0-1 0-0 0; Austin Alecxih 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-66 21-29 100.
Washington College............ 33 36 - 69
Franklin & Marshall........... 52 48 - 100
3-point goals--Washington College 4-17 (Tony Hawkins 2-2; Sal Schittino 1-4; Charlie McShane 1-1; Kevin Cunningham 0-1; Mark DeBoy 0-5; Ryan Kearney 0-1; Kevin Breslin 0-3), Franklin & Marshall 3-7 (Max Brewer 2-2; Georgio Milligan 1-4; Hayk Gyokchyan 0-1).
Fouled out--Washington College-None, Franklin & Marshall-Ed Early.
Rebounds--Washington College 40 (Kevin Breslin 6), Franklin & Marshall 46 (Hayk Gyokchyan 9).
Assists--Washington College 5 (Mark DeBoy 2), Franklin & Marshall 20 (Georgio Milligan 8).
Total fouls--Washington College 22, Franklin & Marshall 25.
Technical fouls--Washington College-None, Franklin & Marshall-Jon Salandra.
A-1723