CARLISLE, Pa. - Thanks to winning a special "play-in" on Monday night 70-67 over the host Mules of Muhlenberg College, the Dickinson men's basketball team has punched their ticket into the Centennial Conference tournament as the sixth-seed and will attempt to begin a magical run towards the title on Wednesday night at third-seeded Franklin & Marshall College.

Whats at Stake
With a win, Dickinson would head to top-seeded Gettysburg College on Friday night at 6pm for one of the Centennial Conference Semifinals. 

Game Information
Opponent - Third Seed Franklin and Marshall College Diplomats
Date - Wednesday, February 21st
Time - 7:00 p.m.
Location - Lancaster, Pa. (Mayser Center)
Media Links - Live Stats | Live Video | Program | Tickets

Tickets
Tickets for tomorrow night's action can be purchased in advanced by clicking this link.
Prices - $10 for Adults | $5 for Seniors (62 and over) and Children (6 through high school) | Centennial Conference Students, Staff and Faculty - FREE w/ID

Previous Matchups
January 17, 2024 - Diplomats 56, DEVILS 42 (Carlisle, Pa. - Kline Center)
Dickinson began the game strong with Andrew Gostovich and Skyler Venezia helping the home side to take an 11-9 with just over five minutes gone. The duo of Aaron Bailey and Brandon Wiercinski then joined the fun to stretch the advantage to four (16-12). However, a 7-3 answer from F&M aided by by Omar Nichols and John Seidman pulled the Diplomats even at 19-19. The Red and White responded with five of the remaining seven points in the period to nab a 25-23 halftime edge. Unfortunately, it was all F&M over the final 20 minutes as they outscored the Red and White 33-17, thanks to runs of 8-0 and 11-3 while limiting Dickinson to just 6-of-24 from the floor en route to the 56-42 win. 

Red Devil Leaders
Points - Venezia (19)
Assists - Nate Ogbu and Gostovich (4)
Rebounds - Ogbu (12), David Petrusev (7), Venezia (5)

Diplomat Leaders
Points - Grauslys (17)
Assists - Seidman (3), Charles (2)
Rebounds - Parra (11), Grauslys (10)

February 14, 2024 - Diplomats 78, DEVILS 57 (Lancaster, Pa. - Mayser Center)
Things were tight early in the return fixture as Isaiah Edmond, Matt Mahoney and Petrusev had things locked up at 11-11. However, runs of 7-2 and 9-0 helped the Diplomats to open up a 27-15 advantage with just under five minutes left in the first frame. Dickinson would get buckets from Anthony Goeb, Ogbu and Petrusev to help cut into the deficit a little heading into the break (33-22). Coming out of the break, the Devils would get scores by Ogbu and Wiercinski to make it 33-27, but then seven straight for Kevin Nowoswiat extended the gap to 40-27. The visitors continued to fight back with the group of Randy Shephard, Goeb, Gostovich, Ogbu and Wiercinski closing the score to within five at 45-40. Unfortunately, for DC, a 13-2 outburst by F&M after that opened the lead up to 58-42, which was a mark the Red and White could not come back from as the Diplomats went on to seal up the 78-57 win. 

Red Devil Leaders
Points - Ogbu (21), Mahoney (8)
Assists - Gostovich (3)
Rebounds - Ogbu (6)

Diplomat Leaders
Points - Nowoswiat (18), Grauslys (14), Charles and Nichols (12), Seidman (10)
Assists - Seidman (7), Parra (4)
Rebounds - Parra (12)

Team Overview
Inside the Devils Den (11-15, 7-11 Centennial)
After dropping their first two games of the season to St. Joseph's (Maine) and seventh-ranked Williams College, the Red and White worked themselves back to .500 with victories over Centenary University (65-55) and McDaniel College (63-47). Coming off the two wins and feeling good about things, the Devils then fell in four of their next games heading into the holiday break with wins against Messiah University (71-63) and Nazareth University (85-76). Turning the calendar to 2024, DC captured a slim 51-50 on the road at Haverford College, before slipping up against conference foes Johns Hopkins University and Ursinus College. Things took a positive turn for the Red and White over the mid-part of January winning three of their next five contests knocking off Washington College (57-52), Muhlenberg College (73-50) and Haverford (57-38). Then things went downhill with three straight defeats to McDaniel, Johns Hopkins and Gettysburg, but wins in two of their final three against Washington (67-44) and Ursinus (66-55) coupled with Muhlenberg's loss in the season finale to Gettysburg set the stage for the "play-in" game with the Mules. Thanks to the 70-67 triumph last night in Allentown the Devils earned the right to go at it again tomorrow night.

Red Devil Leaders
Points per game - Ogbu (12.3), Petrusev (9.2), Edmond (8.2)
Assists per game - Ogbu (2.5), Edmond (2.0), Gostovich (1.4)
Rebounds per game - Ogbu (8.0), Petrusev (5.3), Gostovich (3.5)
Steals per game - Venezia (1.1), Goeb and Ogbu (0.8)

The Diplomatic Speech (19-6, 14-4 Centennial)
Franklin & Marshall began the season on an absolute tear as they ripped off six consecutive wins over Neumann University (97-67), Elizabethtown College (79-50), Lancaster Bible College (82-71), Ursinus (71-59), Gettysburg (65-56) and Haverford (70-63). They then split their next four matchups with victories against Albright College (79-66) and Susquehanna University (75-67), while falling to Johns Hopkins and Washington & Lee University. Following a 63-46 setback at the University of Mary Washington, the Blue and White got back to winning basketball toppling their next eight opponents: McDaniel (57-53), Muhlenberg (88-67), Washington (82-71), Swarthmore (70-55), Dickinson (56-42), Haverford (75-46), Gettysburg (81-76) and McDaniel (75-69). Coming off that rampage F&M dropped three of their ensuing four contests, before collecting wins against Dickinson (78-57) and Washington (66-55) to secure the third seed.

Diplomat Leaders
Points per game - Grauslys (16.0), Nowoswiat (11.4), Parra (11.1), Nichols (10.5)
Assists per game - Seidman (4.0), Grauslys (2.2), Parra (1.6)
Rebounds per game - Parra (7.3), Nowowswiat (6.0), Charles (5.0)
Steals per game - Grauslys (1.4), Nichols (1.1), Parra and Seidman (1.0)

Stat Pack
Streak - DC (W2) | F&M (W2)
Scoring Average - DC (57.6) | F&M (70.4)
Scoring Defense - DC (62.4) | F&M (62.6)
Scoring Margin - DC (-4.8) | F&M (+7.8)
Field Goal Pct. - DC (.385) | F&M (.439)
Field Goal Pct. Defense - DC (.416) | F&M (.412)
3-point Pct. - DC (.292) | F&M (.349)
3-point Pct. Defense - DC (.298) | F&M (.306) 
Free Throw Pct. - DC (.632) | F&M (.634)
Rebound Avg. - DC (35.2) | F&M (35.8)
Opp. Rebound Avg. - DC (34.6) | F&M (34.2)
Rebound Margin - DC (+0.6) | F&M (+1.6)
Assists - DC (11.7) | F&M (12.9)
Turnovers - DC (13.7) | F&M (12.7)
Opp. Turnovers - DC (11.9) | F&M (14.5)
Turnover Margin - DC (-1.8) | F&M (+1.5)
Steals - DC (5.9) | F&M (7.0)
Blocks - DC (2.9) | F&M (2.7)