Georgio Milligan, Franklin & Marshall
Franklin & Marshall 80, Amherst 71
Georgio Milligan saved his best performance of the season for the biggest game of the year with a season-high 30 points to lead No. 9 Franklin & Marshall to an 80-71 victory over No. 2 Amherst in the NCAA Sweet 16. The Diplomats will face No. 3 MIT, an 83-67 winner over Staten Island, in the Elite Eight Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Mayser Center. It will be F&M's 10th appearance in the Round of Eight.
Milligan scored eight of those points in the final 2:41 of the game after Amherst came within three, 68-65. The senior hit the backend of his two shots from the stripe and nailed a jumper seconds later to put the Diplomats up six, 71-65, at 2:10. The Lord Jeffs scored on their next possession before Matt Porter tallied three straight to put the Diplomats up seven with under a minute to play.
David Waller hit one of two from the line to bring Amherst within six, but Milligan answered with two from the line to put F&M up eight, 76-68 with 37 seconds remaining in the game. Taylor Barrise hit a trey on the Lord Jeffs' next trip down the court, setting up one of the most exciting plays of the game. Knowing Amherst was going to try and foul, F&M brought everyone up close to the baseline for the inbound pass. Milligan slipped behind the defense, and Gyokchyan fired a pass three-quarters down the court that hit Milligan in stride, which set up a traditional three-point play. Milligan hit the foul shot with 17 seconds remaining, which put F&M up eight, 79-71, before Porter hit the backend of two shots for the final point.
Milligan went 11-for-16 from the floor and added seven assists for F&M. Ed Early scored 13 on 6-for-8 shooting while Porter and Jon Salandra both finished with 10 points apiece. Salandra added a team-high eight boards and Morgan Lee finished with eight.
Aaron Toomey scored a team-high 21 points for the Lord Jeffs while no other Amherst player reached double figures.