Game Notes

Riding a six-game win streak, the Franklin & Marshall Men's Basketball team (14-3, 9-1) enters the week in first place of the Centennial Conference standings. With eight games remaining in the regular season, the Diplomats hope to clinch a first-round bye for the conference tournament, slated to begin on February 20. Key matchups left to play include games against Gettysburg, Johns Hopkins and Swarthmore, all of whom trail F&M in the standings by two games or less. 

Last Week

With a road contest against Dickinson, the Diplomats came from behind to defeat the Red Devils 56-42. In the first half alone, the score saw 12 lead changes and five ties, with the Diplomats holding a 17-16 edge with under nine minutes remaining til the break. In the final eight minutes of the frame, F&M shot just 1-of-13 but was only outscored 9-4 by Dickinson, as the Red Devils took a 25-23 lead by the end of the half. Trailing 30-25 at the 17-minute mark of the second period, F&M scored eight straight points, led by back-to-back three-pointers by Kevin Nowoswiat and Jaylen Green, to go in front for the first time in nearly nine minutes of play. After Dickinson responded with four unanswered points of its own, an 8-2 F&M run gave the Diplomats the lead for good for the remainder of the game.  In the last nine minutes of the game, F&M restricted the Red Devils to just 2-of-13 shooting from the field and forced four turnovers, while Grauslys scored 10 of his 17 points on the night in that frame. Read the full recap here. 

At home against Haverford, the Diplomats saw all five starters enter double-figures in scoring in a 75-46 win over the Fords. Leading 15-11 in the early stages of the first half,  F&M went on an 8-2 scoring run to take a 10-point advantage with just over nine minutes remaining. In the following five minutes, Haverford shot 1-of-8 from the field, which led to the Diplomats going up by 18, their largest lead of the half. In front 35-22 to begin the second half, the deficit remained above 13 for the entirety of the period as the Diplomats extended the gap to 20 inside of the 14-minute mark. With the lead growing to as large as 31 points on the afternoon, F&M closed out its 14th win of the season. Read the full recap here. 

Last Time vs. Gettysburg

Having met this past November already, the Diplomats knocked off the Bullets 65-56 on the road. With Gettysburg leading 18-9 in the first half, a 10-2 F&M run brought the Diplomats to within one with under seven minutes left until the intermission. In the final five minutes of the first half, the Diplomats shot 5-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, to take a 33-30 edge going into the locker room. Inside of the first six minutes of the second period, F&M extended its lead to nine, with Vakaris Grauslys and Kevin Nowoswiat combining for 10 of the team's 12 points in that time frame. Gettysburg, however, stormed back with a 12-2 run to take its first lead since there were just over two minutes left to play in the first half. Down 53-51, Grauslys went on a 10-3 on his own to put the Diplomats on top for good. Nowoswiat hit one final free throw with 31 seconds remaining as F&M claimed its fifth win of the season. Read the full recap here. 

Last Time vs. McDaniel

Hosting the Green Terror at the Mayser center less than three weeks ago, the Diplomats edged McDaniel 57-53. With the Green Terror ahead 14-9 in the early stages of the tilt, F&M scored 14 unanswered points and did not trail for the remainder of the afternoon. In the final three minutes of the half, F&M knocked down a pair of shots from beyond the arc, and took a 31-22 lead heading into the break. By the 10-minute mark of the second half, McDaniel evened the score at 40-40, but a 12-2 run over the next six minutes gave F&M much needed breathing room. With the Green Terror continuing to claw back, the Diplomats led by three with just over a minute left in the game. However, F&M made four of their six free throw attempts over their final three possessions to seal the game. Read the full recap here. 

Gettysburg Team Preview

Much like the Diplomats, the Bullets are also currently on a six-game win streak, with an average margin of victory of 19.3 points in that span. Gettysburg's latest win came in a 67-39 domination of Washington College last Saturday, marking a season-series sweep of the Shoremen. Despite having the same record in conference play, F&M owns the head-to-head tie-breaker with its win from November. 

Averaging 14.7 points per game, Jordan Stafford leads the team in scoring and ranks seventh in the conference. The junior has entered double-figures in all but two games this season, with a recent shooting percentage of 52.3% from the field in his last four games. He's also knocked down five of his seven shots from beyond the arc in that stretch. Eight in the conference in rebounding, Ryan McKeon has averaged a team-best 6.6 boards per game. Against the Diplomats earlier this season, the senior registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. As a group, Gettysburg has the sixth-best scoring defense in the country with 58.5 points per game allowed. In conference games specifically, the Bullets have limited their opponents to 52.9 points per game. Offensively, however, the team is eighth in the conference in three-point shooting with a made percentage of 32.5 from deep. 

McDaniel Team Preview

Coming off of a win in their final non-conference game, the Green Terror will first take on Johns Hopkins on Thursday before hosting F&M at the Gill Center on Saturday afternoon. Despite its 2-8 conference record, McDaniel remains just two games behind Ursinus for the final spot in the conference tournament. 

The top scorer on the team, Jonas Sujeta is averaging 13.6 points per game with double-digit performances in all but five games this year. In his last two games, though, Sujeta has been held to 13 combined points. He's also the leading rebounder on the team with 5.5 rebounds per game. Twice this season, Sujeta has notched a double-double, most recently in late December against William Patterson. With less than 12 turnovers a game, the Green Terror have been the best in conference at taking care of the ball but rank eighth in the conference in takeaways.