Box Score LANCASTER, Pa. – All five starters scored in double-figures to lead 11th-ranked Franklin & Marshall to an 88-80 victory over Washington in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats stayed undefeated at 13-0, 6-0 CC while the Shoremen dropped to 1-12, 1-5 CC.
F&M started with a 10-2 lead four minutes into the game before the Shoremen put together a 12-4 run over the next four minutes to tie the game a 14-14. Both teams traded buckets over the next few minutes resulting in a 22-22 tie at 9:01. Washington netted six straight to take a 28-22 edge before F&M slowly chipped away and a Morgan Lee layup and foul shot put F&M up two, 37-35, with just under three to play.
The Shoremen netted the next four points and two Brandon Federici free throws tied the game at 39-39 with 40 ticks on the clock. Dave Knox converted the traditional three-point play for Washington with 28 seconds left to send the game into the break with a 42-39 Shoremen lead.
Tied at 53-53 at 13:16 in the second half, Federici kicked off a 9-3 F&M spurt that put the Diplomats up for good, 62-55, with 9:29 left. The game was far from over as the Shoremen kept battling and slowly erased F&M's lead with a 14-8 run to come within a point, 70-69, with a little over five minutes to play. Washington stayed within striking distance, but a Matthew Tate triple at 1:41 put the Diplomats up 80-76.
Two Federici shots from the line put F&M up six and two from Washington's Dave Knox made it a four-point game, 82-78, with 49 seconds left to play. Tate hit two from the line on F&M's next possession, before Knox hit a layup for bring Washington within four, 84-80. Federici hit two from the stripe to make it a two-possession game and Knox missed a three on Washington's next trip down the court, setting up two free fro Tate to seal the victory.
Federici finished with a career-high 31 points, shooting 11-for-22 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the line. He added six boards and four assists. Cedric Moune and Lee both finished with 13 points for the Diplomats. Moune was limited in minutes due to early foul trouble, but managed to turn in his fifth double-double with 11 boards. Tate went 3-for-6 from the floor for 12 points while Devin Figueroa tallied 11 for F&M.
Knox scored a game- and career-high 34 points in the contest and also collected 11 rebounds. Pat Morgan and John Weston added 10 apiece for the Shoremen.
The Diplomats outshot Washington 53.4-41.8 percent and held a 39-32 edge on the glass.
F&M continues CC play on Tuesday when the Diplomats hosts Muhlenberg at 8:00 p.m.
