Breslin Scores Game-High 26 Points And Becomes Sixth Washington Player To Net 1,500 Points

LANCASTER, PA – Franklin & Marshall's Hayk Gyokchyan scored a team-high 23 points as host #12 Franklin & Marshall, the top seed, downed the fifth seed Washington College, 100-69, on Friday night in the semifinal round of the Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the Mayser Center.  The Diplomats improve to 24-2 overall, while the Shoremen conclude their campaign at 14-13.

The Diplomats will play second seed Muhlenberg (18-8), a 65-62 winner over third seed Dickinson (14-12). 

After senior forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) netted the opening points of the game on a jumper 37 seconds into the game, the Diplomats scored the next 13 points to take a 13-2 lead with 15:40 left in the first half on a Gyokchyan.   The Diplomats would push their lead to 18 points at 28-10 with 10:07 left in the first on a Matt Porter free throw.   F&M would eventually take a 37-18 lead with 5:56 left in the half on a traditional three-point by Ed Early.    Washington would score the next six points, all on free throws, to trim the lead to 37-24 with 5:18 remaining in the first on two free throws by senior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield).  WC would cut the lead to 40-28 with 3:42 left in the half on a layup by senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti), but F&M would close the half on a 12-5 run to take a 52-33 lead into halftime.  An Early lay-in to beat the buzzer gave the Diplomats their second 19-point lead of the half, the biggest cushion of the first for the hosts, which they did on two occasions.

F&M took a 27-point lead with 14:15 left in the second half on a Jon Salandra layup on a pass from Georgio Milligan to put the Diplomats ahead 68-41.  The score capped a 16-8 opening second half run for F&M.  The Diplomats would lead by as many as 34 points on two occasions, the final time being at 98-64 with 1:40 left on a Kevin Henry layup. 

Gyokchyan had nine rebounds to lead all players as the Diplomats held a 46-40 edge on the boards.  Milligan had 15 points and led all players with eight assists.  Early and Salandra each added 10 points for the hosts, as F&M shot 58% from the floor.  The hosts shot 42% from three-point range and 72% (21-for-29) from the foul line.  Brandon Beckford had three steals to tie for game-high.

Breslin had 26 points to lead Washington and all players, including his 1,500th point.  Breslin got his milestone point on a layup with 1:12 left in the first half.  He will graduate as WC's sixth all-time leading scorer with 1,517 points.  He is one of six players at Washington to score over 1,500 points.  Breslin also grabbed six boards to lead the team.  Junior forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Haddon Township) had 13 points for the Shoremen.  Senior guard Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph) tied Beckford for tops in the game with three steals.

F&M had 13 turnovers, while Washington had 14 miscues.

Tonight marked the final game for seniors, Breslin, DeBoy, Olsen, center Max Finch (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), guard James Hetzel (Fallston, MD/John Carroll), guard Ryan Kearney (Glenolden, PA/Haverford School), forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) and guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield).

The 14 wins are the most victories in the Rob Nugent era and the most since the Shoremen went 17-10 in 1998-99.