The sights and sounds at Franklin & Marshall’s acoustically shrill Mayser Center this weekend – a team on a floor-diving mission, a defensive clinic performed on a court named for the sport’s winningest Division III coach, a student rooting section that became a fully-deputized sixth man – were signs that F&M basketball is back.The Diplomats squeezed the life out of Johns Hopkins 60-44 Sunday in the Centennial Conference Championship game, two days after they handled Ursinus, 75-64, in a semifinal, also here.It was the Dips’ first conference title since 2016, and locked up a berth in the NCAA D3 tournament, the program’s first since 2018.“I look back four years ago, we were coming out of COVID, and I had one rotation player back,’’ said coach Nick Nichay. “We were building, and we’ve improved every year. It’s just hard to skip steps in a league like this.’’Nichay had been an assistant to Glenn Robinson, the guy for whom the court is named, before taking over in 2019.Robinson retired with a Division Three record 967 wins, 25 NCAA appearances and five Final Fours.“It’s about the defense,’’ Robinson said Sunday after watching from the bleachers. “Nick has really gotten them to buy in.’’The Dips came in Sunday seventh in the country in scoring defense, and ultimately came out with a trophy because they held Hopkins, a top-20 program of late, to 32 percent shooting from the field, and a sub-arctic 14 percent (four of 29) from the three-point arc.The Blue Jays don’t normally shoot that many threes, but on this day, they weren’t getting much else.“One thing we always pride ourselves on is defense first,’’ said John Seidman, a senior swingman who scored 14 points with seven rebounds and earned the conference tournament MVP award.“We think it can go anywhere, and if we keep working on it, it’s going to get even better.’’For a half, Sunday’s game was a grind between old rivals that know each other too well. An NCAA record may have been set for possessions that reached the final five seconds on the shot clock.The teams combined to make just 19 of 53 shots; F&M’s Kevin Nowoswiat, averaging 20 and likely the Centennial player of the year, had one point of 0-for-8 shooting.F&M led 24-23.The second half started with a three by F&M point guard Vakaris Grauslys, and then a follow inside by center Josh Parra.Somehow, the Dips had found a little offensive rhythm. Hopkins simply never did. One box-score item resonates: The Blue Jays (17-10) had 14 turnovers and just six assists.F&M was 6-of-12 from the arc after halftime, and several of them were killers. One by freshman Steve Donahue, followed by a long-range bomb by Seidman with the shot clock expiring, started the Dips on a 14-3 run, building the lead to 43-30, with nine minutes left.Hopkins never got closer than down eight after that. Critically, F&M made seven of its last eight free throws.Parra finished with 12 points on six-of-seven shooting, and seven rebounds in just 18 minutes. Grauslys scored 11.The NCAAs begin Friday. The selections and brackets will be announced at noon Monday.Nichay said F&M could, but he suspects a road trip, possibly to New England or New Jersey, is more likely.Again, defense travels.“We’re not a top-five defense for nothing,’’ Nichay said.
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