LANCASTER, Pa. — Franklin & Marshall opened up its 2011 portion of the schedule with a 96-85 victory over Old Westbury in the first round of the 44th Annual Sponaugle New Years Tournament hosted by F&M Sunday evening. The No. 14 Diplomats improved to 8-1 while the Panthers dropped to 2-6.
Georgio Milligan scored 21 points and became the 31st member of F&M’s 1,000-Point Club. Milligan dished out eight assists and is now 11 dimes away from career 400.
F&M found itself in an early 8-6 hole at 17:12 before putting together a 10-2 run to take a four-point, 16-12, lead at 13:38. Old Westbury got within a bucket at 7:14, but the Diplomats answered with a 16-2 run to go up 40-26 with three minutes remaining in the first. F&M took a 42-31 edge into the break.
The Diplomats opened up the second stanza outscoring Old Westbury 10-2 to take a commanding 19-point, 52-33, advantage at 17:36. F&M led by as much as 21 points, at 10:08, and maintained at least an 11-point lead the remainder of the game.
All five starters scored in double figures for F&M. James McNally netted a team-high 25 points on 11-for-19 shooting. McNally added 10 boards for his first double-double this season. Mike Baker dropped in 18 with eight boards. Brandon Beckford and Steve Tolliver scored 13 and 11 points respectively.
Lester Prosper led the way for the Panthers. Prosper had a dominate performance with 28 points and 24 boards, both game highs. Jefferson Guilaume added 11 for Old Westbury.
The Diplomats will face Ithaca tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. in the championship game. The Bombers defeated Wesley 96-92 in the first game of the Sponaugle Tournament. Wesley will face Old Westbury in the third place game at 6:00 p.m.
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