Box Score

SALEM, Va. --- In a contest that was tight throughout and featured 11 ties, the outcome was almost certain to come down to the final minutes of action.  Michael Farrow gave Richard Stockton College the lead for good with 0:49 to play as the Ospreys move on to their first NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Game with a 62-58 win over Franklin & Marshall College.

The Ospreys (30-2) advance to face defending national champion, Washington University in St. Louis, on Saturday afternoon.  The Bears defeated Guilford College, 77-58, in the first national semifinal, setting up their chance for a second straight D-III men's crown.  That national title game is set for 3:00 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center.

Franklin & Marshall (26-6) will face Guilford in the national third place game.  That contest will also feature in the Salem Civic Center at 12:30 p.m.

"At the beginning of the second half, we missed our first seven foul shots," explained Richard Stockton head coach Gerry Matthews.  "We had a chance to maybe break the game open a little bit, and we didn't because of the foul shooting.  But I'll tell you what, we didn't shoot bad for our foul shooting in the last 30 seconds."

Michael Farrow gave the Ospreys a chance to seal the game from the line.  With Franklin & Marshall holding possession and leading 57-56, the sophomore guard stepped into the passing lanes twice over the final minutes.  He intercepted a pass on each occasion, racing down the court for a pair of lay-ins, the final providing the go-ahead score with 0:49 to play.  Omar Smith sealed the win, hitting 3-of-4 foul shots down the stretch to keep the Diplomats at bay.

Smith tied for the game-high in points with 20 markers and seven rebounds.  Kai Massaquoi scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half as he added seven boards and three steals to the Ospreys' score line.  Farrow finished with 11 points and another seven caroms.

Georgio Milligan led four Diplomats in scoring with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.  Anthony Brooks and James McNally chipped in 13 points apiece with McNally adding 10 rebounds.  Mike Baker recorded the second double-double for F&M with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Neither team enjoyed a lead larger than eight points throughout the entire contest.  The first seven minutes of the game featured seven ties before F&M pulled ahead to a pair of seven point leads and an eight-point cushion at 24-16 with 4:54 to go in the half.  Massaquoi collected eight straight points for Stockton over the final minutes, including a pair of threes, to set up Colin Horsch's jumper with 0:02 on the clock to send the teams into the half tied, 26-26.

The Ospreys opened up a small lead through the first few minutes of the second half before the scoreboard showed the game's seventh tie at 38-38 with 11:40 to go.  The Diplomats went on their second run of the game, again enjoying an eight-point lead thanks to four points apiece from Milligan and McNally and a lay-up from Baker.  The stood at 52-44 for F&M with 6:17 to play.

Richard Stockton took the baton from F&M and sprinted to 10^th level score of the contest at 52-52 with 5:05 showing on the clock.    Baker and Steve Tolliver put the Diplomats back up by four briefly as Jerome Hubbard connected on his only three-pointer of the game in 11 tries to bring the Ospreys within one with 2:35 to play, setting up the final sequence of the game.

"I did think with about four minutes to go, we were going to be able to pull it off tonight," mentioned F&M head coach Glenn Robinson.  "But Stockton really rose to the occasion.  I think if we had another few minutes with another run we could have gotten back on top. But I'm very proud of them and I'm also congratulatory towards Stockton."

Press Conference Transcript

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL HEAD COACH- GLENN ROBINSON

Initial Statement

My statement is not really so much about the game as it is about our team and about our season. I think everybody would understand how proud I am of these guys. We have been rated below in terms of where we were in our league, what we could do in the playoffs, what we could do in the NCAA's and even then what we were to do with tonight's game. Each and every time they beat the prognosticators and played well. I did think with about four minutes to go we were going to be able to pull it off tonight but Stockton really rose to the occasion and with two quick transitional buckets and got three point plays out of them and just turned the game around. I think if we had another few minutes with another run we could have gotten back on top. But I'm very proud of them and I'm also congratulatory towards Stockton, they played a terrific ball game tonight and stepped up when they really had to and made huge plays.

How important was it to you to take advantage of the inside game knowing that you had the height advantage?

We wanted to have balance like we always do. A lot of our concern was to hold down their shooters and keep Hubbard from getting open three's and keep Lancioni from penetrating and kicking and also hitting three's and we did an absolutely phenomenal job of that. The third main goal was to out rebound them and we did that. We held them below 40% shooting 14% three point range and we did a lot of the things that we wanted to coming in. Probably the one area that we wanted to do a little better than what we did, was to take advantage inside. What they did was they kept dropping off and double teaming the low man and made it really difficult for us to get it in there to have an open shot.

RICHARD STOCKTON HEAD COACH- GERRY MATTHEWS

Initial Statement

I'm just in awe of these guys, the heart that they have. What they have done all year long if in October you would have said we had 30 wins I would have probably died laughing we were worried about getting 19 or 20 and getting to the league playoffs and having a chance to win. They just started winning, playing, and rising to every occasion and playing their buns off. And they got in the whole tonight, they sucked it up and they came back. At the beginning of the second half we missed our first seven foul shots, but we had a chance to maybe break the game open a little bit, and we didn't because of the foul shooting. But I'll tell you what, we didn't shoot bad for our foul shooting in the last 30 seconds.