LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall clawed its way to a 77-73 win over Immaculata in the first round of the Sponaugle New Year's Tournament Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats improved to 10-0, while the Macs fell to 8-2.
F&M, ranked No. 25 in the recent D3hoops.com Top 25, will host No. 4 Richard Stockton, a 62-60 winner over Lynchburg in the first game, in Sunday's final at 3 p.m. Immaculata and Lynchburg will square off in the 1 p.m. consolation game.
F&M coach Glenn Robinson earned his 880th career victory and passed legendary University of North Carolina coach Dean Smith on the NCAA's all-time coaching victory list. Robinson is now sixth all-time.
Brandon Federici scored a career-high 30 points for the Diplomats on 8-of-18 shooting, including 6-of-9 from long distance. Cedric Moune added 16 points and a team-high six rebounds for F&M and Jared Wright netted 12 points.
Mamadou Diakite recorded a double-double for the Macs with a team-high 22 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Roy Ferrell Jr. and Matt Simon each netted 11 points for Immaculata.
F&M built an early nine point lead, 14-5, when Moune drained a trey with 14:55 left in the opening half. Immaculata answered with a 13-6 scoring run, spanning four minutes, to close the gap to two, 20-18, on a Mike Sturdivant three with 11:04 on the clock. Still a two-point game, 24-22, with 8:35 left in the first, the Diplomats went on a 10-0 run and took a 34-22 lead on a Hunter Eggers jumper with 4:28 left before halftime.
The Diplomats led by as many as 13, when Federici scored three of his 17 first half points on a three-ball with 3:51 on the clock. The Macs got as close as seven, 37-30, on a Ron Melton free throw at 2:49 before the Diplomats took a 42-34 lead at the break.
The Diplomats took their largest lead of game in the second half after Daniel Osley's dunk put F&M ahead 64-46 with 10:50 left in the game. F&M maintained a double-digit advantage, 72-59, on a Moune layup with 3:20 left in the game before the Macs rallied to close the gap. Immaculata used an 11-2 run to get within four, 74-70, on a trey from Matt Simon with 37 seconds left. The Diplomats sank 3-of-4 free throws in the final 20 seconds to ice the game.