Gerry Wixted, Dickinson
BALTIMORE, Md. -
The #14-ranked Dickinson men's basketball team traveled to Baltimore on Friday night to face #25-ranked Franklin & Marshall for the third time on the season, squaring-off in the Centennial Conference semifinals. The Red Devils jumped out to an early lead and advanced to Saturday's championship with an 82-68 victory.
Senior forward Gerry Wixted (Moorestown, N.J./Camden Catholic) put the Red Devils up 8-3, hitting a pair of three-pointers and two free throws. Hunter Eggers started off hot for F&M, hitting three of the Diplomats four first shots, which were all three-pointers.
Ted Hinnenkamp (York, Pa./York Suburban) scored a lay-up and hit a three-pointer to put Dickinson up, 13-6, with 15:21 to play in the first half. Wixted sandwiched a three-pointer and a lay-up around one of Eggers' three-pointers for an 18-12 advantage.
Hinnenkamp found Robert Picka (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney) for a short jumper to give Dickinson a double-digit lead at the midpoint of the half. F&M pulled within six before the Devils answered with a 7-1 run for its biggest lead of the night, 35-23, with 5:06 to play.
The Devils held the advantage for the remainder of the half. The Diplomats close the gap at the break, trailing 43-37 at intermission.
Matthew Tate hit a three-pointer to open the second half. Angradi answered with a triple on the other end, following a hustling rebound from Hinnenkamp. F&M hit back-to-back lay-ups before Chris Cox (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West) drove baseline to counter for the Red Devils.
Wixted knocked down two more free throws, Angradi hit a jumper and Hinnenkamp scored to put the Devils up, 54-43. The Diplomats countered to cut the deficit to 54-48, at the 15 minute mark.
Wxited hit a pair of free throws and Pete Yingst (Hanover, Pa./Hanover) found Steve Collins (Rydal, Pa./La Salle College) on a nice backdoor cut, which turned into a three-point play. Jared Wright hit a three-pointer on the other end to make the score, 59-53.
Moses Romocki (Creedmoore, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) pulled up for a three-pointer before Morgan Lee finished on the inside. Wixted was solid at the line again, giving Dickinson a 64-55 at the midpoint of the half.
Hunter Eggers sank a triple from the corner before Dickinson answered with free throws from Romocki and a nice turnaround jumper. Picka hit a free throw and Hinnekamp scored again for a 70-58 advantage, with just over six minutes remaining in the game.
Romocki came through with a big put-back before F&M converted a three-point play from Cedric Moune. Hinnenkamp capitalized on a great screen, driving the basket to give the Devils a 74-61 lead at the 4:24 mark, forcing a Diplomat timeout.
A pair of Brandon Federici free throws pulled the Diplomats within 10, with just over three minutes to play in the game.
Wixted hit two free throws and buried a three-pointer off a great dish from Yingst for 79-66 lead, with under two minutes to play. Hinnenkamp added a pair of free throws to help secure the win. Devin Figueroa scored off a steal for the final of 82-68.
Wixted had a monster night, scoring a game-high 29 points to make him the school's all-time leading scorer for men's and women's basketball, totaling 1,806 for his career after tonight. Annie Guzek '96 held the top mark for the men and women with 1,800 even.
Wixted turned in an outstanding performance, hitting 13-of-13 free throws and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. He added nine rebounds, three assists and blocked three shots. He became the ninth player in Centennial Conference history to score over 100 points in post season play, ranking seventh in tournament scoring with 109.
Hinnenkamp recorded a double-double, scoring 15 points and controlling 11 rebounds. He added a game-high five assists as well. Angradi tallied nine points while Romocki and Picka each scored seven and combined for 14 rebounds. Romocki handed out a pair of assists and Picka blocked two shots.
Eggers finished with 16 points to lead F&M (20-6) while Moune added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Dickinson improves to 21-5 on the season. Red Devils shot a remarkable 59 percent from the floor, hitting 62 percent in the first half. They advance to the conference final to face host Johns Hopkins at 7:00 pm.