ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Hayk Gyokchyan scored 25 points to lead No. 14 Franklin & Marshall to a 74-69 victory over Muhlenberg in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Thursday evening. The Diplomats improved to 12-2, 7-0 CC while the Mules fell to 8-6, 4-3 CC.

Gyokchyan's performance brought his career total to 997 points, leaving him three shy of becoming the 33rd Diplomat to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

F&M took command early, outscoring the Mules 17-4 in the first five minutes of the game and continued to pile it on when Jon Salandra's bucket at 10:57 gave the Diplomats their largest lead of the game, 29-7. The Mules answered with 20-8 run over the next five minutes to come within 10 points, 37-27, but F&M quickly countered with eight straight to go up 45-27 with 1:23 left in the half. Muhlenberg tallied the last four points of the half to make it 45-31 at the break.

The Mules slowly chipped away to start the second and came within nine, 48-39, before Gyokchyan scored four in a 7-3 spurt to put F&M's lead back in double-figures. Muhlenberg continued to battle and scored 10 unanswered to make it a three point game, 55-52, with 9:33 left to play. The teams exchanged points and Malique Killings hit two from the line at 4:52 to bring the Mules within a point, 59-58.

Gyokchyan hit treys on F&M's next two possessions to make 65-60 at 4:11. The game slowed down with just eight points scored over the next three minutes and F&M holding onto a 69-64 advantage with 1:02 left in the game. Matt Porter scored on a traditional three-point play to put F&M up eight points and Brandon Beckford went 1-for-2 from the stripe to make 73-64 with 14 ticks on the clock. Killings scored five points in the final 14 seconds for the Mules, but it wasn't enough as F&M walked away with the victory.

Gyokchyan shot 50% from floor, including 4-for-7 from behind arc and collected seven rebounds. Max Brewer and Porter both tallied 11 for F&M while Beckford and Salandra finished eight apiece. Ed Early contributed six points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Killings led Muhlenberg with a game-high 27 points with Austin Curry adding 10 for the Mules. Kevin Hargrove netted nine and Brandon Bovino finished with eight points.

The Diplomats held a 42-26 advantage on the glass and shot 56% from behind the arc to the Mules' 35%.

F&M continues its road trip when the Diplomats travel to Washington on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. contest.

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 74, MUHLENBERG 69

FRANKLIN & MARSHALL (12-2 (7-0 CC))

Hayk Gyokchyan 8-16 5-7 25; Max Brewer 4-8 1-1 11; Matt Porter 3-11 4-5 11; Brandon Beckford 2-5 3-4 8; Jon Salandra 4-6 0-0 8; Ed Early 3-7 0-1 6; Devin Figueroa 1-1 0-0 3; Morgan Lee 0-2 2-2 2; Terrel Phelps 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-56 15-20 74.

MUHLENBERG (8-6 (4-3 CC))

Malique Killing 9-20 6-6 27; Austin Curry 3-9 2-3 10; Kevin Hargrove 4-7 1-2 9; Brandon Bovino 3-5 2-2 8; Matt O'Hara 3-8 1-2 8; Hunter Forsman 3-4 1-3 7; Nick Melosky 0-1 0-0 0; James Albano 0-1 0-0 0; Alec Stavetski 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 13-18 69.

Franklin & Marshall...........   45   29  -   74

Muhlenberg....................   31   38  -   69

3-point goals--Franklin & Marshall 9-16 (Hayk Gyokchyan 4-7; Max Brewer 2-3; Brandon Beckford 1-2; Matt Porter 1-2; Devin Figueroa 1-1; Morgan Lee 0-1), Muhlenberg 6-17 (Malique Killing 3-5; Austin Curry 2-6; Matt O'Hara 1-3; Nick Melosky 0-1; Alec Stavetski 0-2).

Fouled out--Franklin & Marshall-None, Muhlenberg-Hunter Forsman; Kevin Hargrove.

Rebounds--Franklin & Marshall 42 (Ed Early 11), Muhlenberg 26 (Matt O'Hara 6; Hunter Forsman 6).

Assists--Franklin & Marshall 21 (Hayk Gyokchyan 6), Muhlenberg 9 (Malique Killing 4).

Total fouls--Franklin & Marshall 15, Muhlenberg 18.

Technical fouls--Franklin & Marshall-None, Muhlenberg-None.

A-324