(Posted November 28, 2009)

LANCASTER, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall College shot 55.1% from the field and Juniata College was unable to keep up that pace as the Eagles fell to the Diplomats, 92-53, Saturday night at F&M's Mayser Gymnasium.

Juniata (3-2, 0-0 Landmark) was led by sophomore guard Dan Sekulski (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) with 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field. Reserve forward Matt Regan (Downingtown, Pa./Devon Prep) was the only other Juniata player to score in double figures with 10.

Franklin & Marshall (3-1, 0-0 Centennial), ranked sixth in the d3hoops.com preseason poll, had five players score in double figures, with guard Georgio Milligan leading the way with 23 points. Forward James McNally (22 points, 11 rebounds) and reserve Hayk Gyokchyan (15 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for the Diplomats.

The Eagles kept paced with the Diplomats in the early going, and trailed by just two points, 11-9, following an Andy Wolfe (Carlisle, Pa./Boiling Springs) jumper with 13:18 remaining in the opening half.

Gyokchyan answered with a three-pointer for the Diplomats, launching an 11-0 F&M run lasting barely two minutes. Ryan Jones (Coudersport, Pa./Coudersport) broke Juniata's scoring drought with a three-pointer at the 10:31 mark of the half, cutting the deficit to 10 at 22-12.

However Juniata would get to within 10 points of Franklin & Marshall just once more. That occurred at the 7:55 mark of the first, when a Regan layup was later followed by a layup and a foul shots by Sekulski, trimming the F&M lead to 27-17.

Franklin & Marshall slowly pulled away from there, and carried a 21-point lead, 48-27, into the locker room at the intermission.

The second half was controlled by the Diplomats virtually from the outset. The two teams traded bucket-for-bucket over the first five minutes of the second stanza, before a 13-2 F&M run put the game out of reach.

Juniata was 18-of-55 from the field (32.7%), while F&M shot a scorching 38-of-69 from the floor. The Eagles outperformed the Diplomats at the free-throw line, shooting 70.0% (14-of-20) at the stripe to F&M's 55.6% (10-of-18).

Juniata returns to the hardwood on Monday night, Nov. 30, when it hosts Penn State Wilkes-Barre at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Sports & Recreation Center.

-30-

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.