LANCASTER, Pa. – The sixth-seeded Dickinson men's basketball team fought "tooth and nail" all the way down to the end, including getting a last ditch effort from
Skyler Venezia that clanged off the front of the iron allowing the third-seeded Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats to survive the upset bid by the Red and White 52-51 on Wednesday night at the Mayser Center in the first round of the Centennial Conference tournament.
The home side began the game with a layup from Josh Parra, but then the Red and White found a groove with buckets from
Isaiah Edmond,
Anthony Goeb,
Nate Ogbu, and
David Petrusev capping a 9-0 run. Two free throws from Vakaris Grauslys stopped the charge a second, before Edmond and Petrusev opened the lead out to 13-6. After Parra and Petrusev traded scores inside and Sebastien Charles and
Skyler Venezia exchanged triples, the Diplomats added four straight to make it 18-15 with 7:56 to play. A layup by Petrusev added two to the gap, but then the home side reeled off 14 consecutive points to flip things completely around at 29-20 F&M at the 16:22 mark. Back-to-back treys for Ogbu and Venezia pulled DC to within 29-26, unfortunately layups by Grauslys and Parra opened the lead out to 33-26 going to the break.
Dickinson opened the second period strong with layups by Ogbu and Petrusev trimming the deficit to 33-30 just over a minute in, but a triple for Kevin Nowoswiat answered that leaving it at 36-30. The next three minutes went by without a bucket until
Andrew Gostovich tracked down a rebound and got out on the fastbreak hitting Goeb in stride for an open three. The Red and White continued to plug away with a long-range shot by Venezia and put-back for Ogbu bringing things even at 38. However, Omar Nichols, Parra and Seidman answered with seven straight to reclaim a 45-38 advantage with 8:48 left. That home sprint woke the guests up as four by Edmond and two each for Ogbu and Petrusev cut it down 47-46 at the 14:15 mark. Two at the charity line from Grauslys pushed it back to 49-46, but on the ensuing trip down the court Ogbu found Venezia for a three knotting the contest at 49-49 inside the final five minutes. Parra and Seidman captured three of the next five to give the home team a small 52-51 edge as the game entered the final minute. After a pair of misses inside by Grauslys, Dickinson had one last chance by the attempt from Venezia fell off the front of the iron to let the Diplomats escape with the 52-51 win.
Red Devil Leaders
Points – Ogbu and Venezia (12), Petrusev (11), Edmond (10)
Assists – Edmond and Ogbu (5)
Rebounds – Ogbu (12), Petrusev (8)
Diplomat Leaders
Points – Parra (18), Grauslys (11)
Assists – Grauslys and Seidman (3)
Rebounds – Parra (13), Charles (5)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (11-16) now sees their season come to an unfortunate end, but with a promising young core and an influx of new recruits head coach
Alan Seretti and the Red Devils are ready to make a run in 2024-25.
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