The Diplomats (5-1), who won for the fourth straight game, never trailed after Smith nailed a three-pointer five seconds into the game. F&M limited the Flying Dutchmen to 35.4% shooting and out-rebounded LVC 41-30.
Lebanon Valley (2-4), which lost for the third game in a row, received a team-high 12 points from junior guard Hunter Bretschneider, who shot 4-for-8 from three-point range. Junior guard Jimmy Curran and freshman guard Kyle Enoch added 11 points apiece for the Valley, while Curran and senior forward Dan Hogan each grabbed seven rebounds.
Franklin & Marshall bolted out to an 18-5 start and led by as much as 14 on three occasions in the opening half. But after trailing 29-15 with 6:10 to go in the stanza, the Dutchmen climbed back into it with a 10-0 run, fueled by a pair of Bretschneider threes and capped by two Enoch free throws, that made it a four-point game with 2:45 left. The Diplomats took a 31-25 lead into the locker room.
Lebanon Valley continued its comeback in the second half, and back-to-back treys from Bretschneider and Enoch tied it up 31-31 less than two minutes into the period. The Dutchmen tied it two more times, first on a Dave Kasyan lay-up and then on another Enoch three, but the Dips took the lead for good on lay-up from sophomore forward Derek Hines with 16:21 left, making it 38-36.
F&M enjoyed a nine-point lead (57-48) with 6:00 remaining before Kasyan scored four points in a row, sinking a free throw before converting a conventional three-point play, to pull LVC to within five (57-52) with 4:43 left. But that would turn out to the team’s final field goal of the night, and the Diplomats scored the next 10 points to go ahead 67-52 with 1:07 left. The Dutchmen missed a pair of shots and turned the ball over four times during the crucial stretch.
Junior forward Bryan Teschke added 15 points for Franklin & Marshall while sophomore guard Adam Leonard had 13 points. Junior guard Logan Outerbridge handed out a game-high six assists for the Dips.
12-1-05 7:30 p.m. at Annville, Pa. - LVC Gymnasium FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 69, LEBANON VALLEY 55 FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (5-1) Brandon Smith 7-13 6-10 22; Bryan Teschke 4-9 7-7 15; Adam Leonard 4-9 3-3 13; Derek Hines 4-7 1-5 9; Logan Outerbridge 2-8 0-0 6; Mantas Paulauskas 2-5 0-0 4; Andrew McCaffrey 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Yost 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 17-25 69. LEBANON VALLEY (2-4) H. Bretschneider 4-9 0-0 12; Kyle Enoch 4-7 0-0 11; Jimmy Curran 3-9 4-5 11; Dave Kasyan 3-11 3-4 9; Dan Hodge 2-8 2-4 6; Dan Hogan 1-2 2-2 4; Brian Wolensky 0-1 2-2 2; Peter Ruth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 13-17 55. Franklin & Marshall........... 31 38 - 69 Lebanon Valley................ 25 30 - 55 3-point goals-Franklin & Marshall 6-16 (Adam Leonard 2-4; Logan Outerbridge 2-6; Brandon Smith 2-3; Mantas Paulauskas 0-1; Andrew McCaffrey 0-1; Brandon Yost 0-1), Lebanon Valley 8-26 (H. Bretschneider 4-8; Kyle Enoch 3-6; Jimmy Curran 1-5; Dan Hogan 0-1; Dan Hodge 0-3; Dave Kasyan 0-3). Fouled out--Franklin & Marshall-None, Lebanon Valley-None. Rebounds-Franklin & Marshall 41 (Brandon Smith 9), Lebanon Valley 30 (Jimmy Curran 7; Dan Hogan 7). Assists-Franklin & Marshall 13 (Logan Outerbridge 6), Lebanon Valley 13 (Kyle Enoch 4). Total fouls-Franklin & Marshall 17, Lebanon Valley 23. A-1050