Joe Bodnar vs. Franklin & Marshall 11/29/14
87
Winner Franklin & Marshall F&M 6-0
65
Elizabethtown ETWN-M 1-5
Winner
Franklin & Marshall F&M
6-0
87
Final
65
Elizabethtown ETWN-M
1-5
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Franklin & Marshall F&M 34 53 87
Elizabethtown ETWN-M 31 34 65

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Big second half lifts Franklin & Marshall over E-town, 87-65

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – Morgan Lee scored a game-high 24 points as four Franklin & Marshall Diplomat starters finished in double figures Saturday afternoon in an 87-65 non-conference victory over the Elizabethtown men's basketball team. The Blue Jays were led by 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from Joe Bodnar.

Phil Wenger scored six straight points to start a 10-0 run over the final 2:27 of the first half that trimmed what was once a 13-point deficit to three, 34-31, at halftime and kept Elizabethtown (1-5) within striking distance.

The Diplomats, behind 11 first-half points from leading scorer Brandon Federici and eight from 6-foot-7 junior Cedric Moune threatened to take off from the Jays in the first meeting between the two schools, separated by less than 20 miles, since the 2003-04 season. When Matthew Tate caught the E-town defense flat-footed to find Devin Figueroa for an easy layup with 3:06 left in the half, F&M (6-0) held a 34-21 lead.

But from there, the Diplomats committed a flagrant foul and missed their final three shots of the half, allowing the Blue Jays to get back in the game.

Franklin & Marshall started to take advantage of its height –four starters were 6-foot-4 or taller– in the second half. The first eight points scored by the Dips were all on layups or free throws. Tate then hit Figueroa on the left wing for a pair of two-point jumpers out of inbounds plays on back-to-back possessions to push the F&M lead back to double digits, 46-36.

Elizabethtown shot a strong 56.5% (13-of-23) in the first half, but fell to 37.1% (13-of-35) in the second half. Down 61-48 with 8:45 to go following a 3-point play from Wenger, the Blue Jays could not keep pace with a Diplomats side that picked up its shooting after the break. F&M connected on 17-of-27 shots (63%) and also made 15-of-21 free throws in the second half to outscore the Jays by 19.

Lee was 8-of-12 from the floor and 8-of-14 from the charity stripe to lead all scorers. Federici contributed 20 points, just over his 19.8 season average, but was just 5-of-18 shooting on the day. Fellow starters Moune (13 points) and Tate (10) joined the leading duo in double figures, as did Figueroa (12) off the bench.

Franklin & Marshall held a 35-32 edge on the glass and handed out 25 assists to E-town's 14. The Blue Jays gave the ball away 22 times.

Bodnar finished 4-of-4 at the foul line and hit Elizabethtown's only 3-pointer in the game (1-of-10). Wenger scored 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, while also tying F&M's Moune with a game-high eight rebounds. Eckert added 11 points, three assists and a block.

Wenger, who had a team-high three steals, increased his career total to 203, moving him ahead of Brian Loftus into sole possession of second place in program history. The Lancaster Catholic grad is 32 steals shy of Damian Burnside's career record of 235.

F&M's victory was No. 876 for legendary Diplomats head coach Glenn Robinson, who tied Kentucky icon Adolph F. Rupp for seventh in wins amongst men's college basketball head coaches across all NCAA divisions.

Elizabethtown will go after its first Landmark win Wednesday at 7 p.m., when it hosts Juniata.
 
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