men’s hoops ousted by hot-shooting dips

Foster finished his career just 11 points shy of 1,000.

A remarkable shooting effort gave Franklin & Marshall its third win over the Muhlenberg men’s basketball team in 2009-10, ending the Mules’ season with a 97-72 victory.

The 20th-ranked Diplomats (22-4) shot 55.7 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from three (7-for-9, all in the first half) to knock Muhlenberg (13-14) out of the Centennial Conference playoffs in the semifinals for the second straight year. F&M, which came into the game last in the CC in three-point shooting percentage, advances to face Gettysburg, a 91-78 winner against Washington, in the championship game.

The Mules trailed by four early when freshman Matt O’Hara made a steal and senior Ryan Foster converted a triple on the other end to make it 8-7. A layup by sophomore Spencer Liddic – a frequent occurence in a game in which the All-CC first teamer scored a career-high 28 points on his 20th birthday – gave Muhlenberg its first lead. F&M again went up four before a 6-0 Mule run, capped by a three-pointer by sophomore Justin Greenstone, made it 15-13.

That would be the Mules’ last lead of the game. The Diplomats went on a 12-2 run, featuring three straight threes, to lead 25-17, then later went on an 8-0 run to expand their lead to 18. Senior Brian Frankoski pulled down an offensive board with under five seconds left in the half and found Liddic for a layup just before time expired, cutting the margin to 16 at the break.

After an F&M turnover, Liddic found Foster for a jumper from the right wing to start the second period. But a 10-3 Diplomat run made it a 21-point game with 16:18 to play, and the bulge would eventually expand to as much as 30.

Liddic’s 28 points tied for the 10th most ever in a CC playoff game, and he added a game-high eight rebounds. Foster finished with 13 points, senior Obi Nwizugbo added 10 and Frankoski had six points, three assists and three steals.
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