The Dickinson Men’s Basketball team is once again tied atop the conference despite dropping one last week to Muhlenberg. Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall both sit at 12-4 with two games left, including the season finale on Saturday, Feb. 16, in Lancaster, where the two teams will face each other to determine home-court advantage in the playoffs.
Dickinson lost at Muhlenberg, 77-59, on Wednesday, Feb. 6, before rebounding to defeat Haverford College on Saturday, Feb. 9. The Red Devils handily defeated the visiting Fords, 65-47, in the six Red Devil seniors last regular season game in the Kline Center. Although the loss to Muhlenberg put Dickinson one game out of first-place, F & M lost to Swarthmore on Saturday, allowing Dickinson to make up the difference in the standings.
The loss to Muhlenberg marked the third consecutive time the Mules have beaten the Red Devils, including last season’s playoffs. Muhlenberg only needs one more win or one Gettysburg loss to make it back to the playoffs, so there is a chance that Dickinson will have to play them again.
In their most recent meeting, Muhlenberg came out of the gate fast as they jumped out to a 12-3 lead. Dickinson never led past 2-0, and Muhlenberg’s lead ballooned to 15 at halftime. Dickinson brought more pressure and intensity in the second half, but they could not bring the score any closer than eight and Muhlenberg hit most of their free throws to wind up winning by 18.
Gerry Wixted ’15, Dickinson’s leading scorer and rebounder, got hurt early in the game and only played eight minutes. Adam Honig ’14 finished with a team-high 18 points, including 15 in the second half.
The following Saturday, Dickinson avenged an early-season loss and defeated Haverford. Coach Seretti went with a lineup of five seniors, starting Jim Fenerty, Logan Furr, Vince White, and Saar Ziv alongside regular starter Chris Barsanti. Gavin Allen ’13 played a season-high in minutes off the bench.
After stuggling on offense early – they did not get into double digits until a Chris Cox ’15 layup cut it to 14-10 with 6:50 left in the half- the Red Devils offense surged for the rest of the game. They scored an astonishing 52 points over the next 18:44, widening the gap to a game-high 62-32 with 8:06 left. The Red Devil defense limited the Fords to 34.8% shooting in the game. Playing without Wixted, nine different Red Devils scored. Honig led the way with 18, and Steve Collins ’15 chipped in with 11. The Red Devils also out-rebounded the Fords, 33-23, led by six from Tucker Landy ’14.
The regular season concludes at Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, Feb. 16 in a rematch of a thrilling game won by Dickinson on Jan. 23, 71-63. The playoffs are set to begin on Wednesday, Feb. 20 with a play-in game before the traditional tournament setup begins on Friday, Feb. 22. Dickinson needs one more win or one Muhlenberg loss to clinch a top-three seed an avoid having to play in the play-in. With two wins, Dickinson will host the Centennial Conference playoffs.
