LANCASTER, Pa. – Jon Salandra and Matt Porter both tallied 17 points to lead Franklin & Marshall to a 63-51 victory over Gettysburg Wednesday evening. The Diplomats improved to 16-8, 12-5 CC and secured a playoff spot with the win while the Bullets dropped to 11-13, 9-8 CC.

Gettysburg took the early advantage and led 10-4 just over three minutes into the contest. F&M answered with a 10-2 run over the next 10 minutes and took a 14-12 edge at 8:40. The Bullets netted the next four points before Porter hit two from the stripe to tie the game at 16 with 5:27 remaining. 

The Bullets quickly went up four, 20-16, but the Diplomats finished the half strong by outscoring Gettysburg 11-3 and took a 27-23 lead into the break. Porter had 11 points in the opening stanza while Salandra scored 10 for the Diplomats. 

F&M came out of the break strong with a 10-4 spurt to go up 10, 37-27, and Devin Figueroa scored eight straight, including two triples, to put the Diplomats up 15, 46-31, with 12:29 left in the game. Terrel Phelps made it 50-34 at 10:39 and the Bullets slowly chipped away over the next five minutes to come within 11.  

That was as close as Gettysburg would get as the Diplomats went on a 7-1 run to take their largest lead of the game, 61-44, and maintained a double-digit lead the remainder of the contest. 

Salandra added six boards, four blocks and two steals while Porter shot 7-for-11 for his 17 points. Figueroa finished with eight and Phelps went 3-for-3 from the line for eight points. 

Sean Gordon paced the Bullets with 18 on 6-for-12 shooting and Tanner Kirkpatrick netted 12 for the Bullets. 

F&M outshot Gettysburg 51-42 percent and held a slight 28-26 advantage on the glass. 

The Diplomats returns to action on Saturday when F&M travels to Dickinson for a 4:00 p.m.