Basketball

F&M ROTARY TIP-OFF TOURNAMENT
Delaware Valley 74, Franklin & Marshall College 67

LANCASTER (PA) - Senior Isaiah Pinckney scored 32 points to lead the Delaware Valley College men's basketball team to a 74-67 upset of Franklin & Marshall College in the opening round of the Diplomats' Rotary Tip-Off Tournament.

With the victory, the Aggies (5-20 last season) advanced to the championship game on Saturday, November 18 (8:00 p.m.) where they will meet 16th-ranked Lincoln University, which downed Widener University 98-91 in overtime of the first contest. Lincoln reached the NCAA Sweet 16 last season.

Delaware Valley's victory came over an F&M squad that went just 13-12 a season ago, but was in the NCAA Elite Eight just three years ago. Head coach Glenn Robinson is also the all-time winningest coach in Division III history with more than 700 victories to his credit.

Pinckney entered the tournament just 35 shy of the 1,000-point plateau and he nearly accomplished that in one night. The two-time, all-Freedom Conference guard hit eight of 17 shots from the field (2-for-7 from 3-point land) and was 14-for-16 from the foul line. Eight of those free throws came in the final 75 seconds as he was perfect from the line down the stretch.

The Aggies trailed by as many as 12 in the first half and took a 31-24 deficit into the intermission. However, the second half was a different story as they shot 59.1 percent from the field and outscored the Diplomats, 50-36.

Down 36-26, Delaware Valley went on a 17-6 run to take a one-point lead with 12:38 to go. Pinckney had seven points in the spurt while Zack Van Dyke added six.

F&M regained the lead and held a 49-45 advantage at the midway point. However, the Aggies answered with nine straight points, including seven by Pinckney, to take a four-point lead. The Diplomats pulled to within three on three separate occasions, but Pinckney and his teammates had an answer every time.

Van Dyke finished with 16 points while Josh Taylor also hit double figures with 12. Jason Seipt added seven points, eight rebounds and five assists in the victory. Derek Hines had 19 to lead F&M.