For their success in the academic world as well as the basketball world, Muhlenberg seniors Aril Bryant and Ryan Bonda were named to the Lehigh Valley Small College Scholar-Athlete Team.

Bryant, an art major, may be the most valuable player averaging only 1.1 points per game. She has excelled as a point guard on the high-scoring Mules, ranking second on the team with 42 assists and leading the Centennial Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.71). Bryant ranks 12th in team history with 158 career assists and became the sixth Muhlenberg player to reach double digits in assists when she dished out 10 against Haverford.

Bonda, a double major in accounting and business administration, is third on the men’s team in scoring, averaging 9.5 points per game. He was named to the Scotty Wood all-tournament team for the second time in his career this season and recently became the eighth player in team history to make 100 career three-pointers. Bonda has the highest-scoring game by an active Mule player with his 37-point effort against Widener in 2003.

Slow starts to the first and second halves spelled trouble for the Muhlenberg men’s basketball team, which fell at Franklin & Marshall, 103-79, for its second loss in a row.

The loss spoiled a spectacular 27-point effort from Mule sophomore Jeff Stewart.

The Diplomats (8-3, 4-1), who were ranked as high as fifth in Division III earlier this season, went on an early 11-0 run to open up a 23-8 lead less than eight minutes into the game.

The F&M edge was 13 points, 27-14, with eight minutes to go in the half before three consecutive three-pointers – two by sophomore Chris Pothering, a transfer from F&M, and one by sophomore Tom Scott – got the Mules (6-6, 3-2) back in the game.

Muhlenberg eventually tied the score twice, at 29 and 31, but the Diplomats took a 39-35 advantage into the locker room.

The teams played even for the first several possessions of the second half, until a 15-3 F&M blitz widened the margin to 14 points five minutes into the half.

The Mules again clawed back, thanks to the inside play of Stewart and junior Jimmy O’Brien. Stewart scored 21 of his season-high 27 points in the second half, shooting 8-of-12 from the field. O’Brien also finished with a season high of 19 points.

Muhlenberg closed to within five points, at 73-68 with nine minutes to play, but could not keep up with the Dips’ 71-percent shooting in the second half. F&M closed the game on a 13-1 run, making the final score somewhat deceiving.

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