Box Score LANCASTER, Pa. – No. 25 Franklin & Marshall survived a late run to defeat No. 4 Richard Stockton 71-63 and won the 2015 Sponaugle New Years Tournament. The tournament title is the fourth straight for the Diplomats and the 27th overall as F&M remained undefeated at 11-0 while the Ospreys dropped to 11-1.
Evened a 9-9 five minutes into the game, F&M separated itself with a 15-5 scoring run, spanning eight minutes, to lead 24-14 with 7:35 left in the first half. Devin Figueroa sparked the run with two 3-pointers 30 seconds apart. Consecutive Onnir Kendall layups put Stockton within six, 24-18, with 6:35 before the Diplomats answered with a 14-1 run.
Brandon Federici led the run with eight points, including a pair of threes, and Lee added four before Jared Wright's layup put F&M ahead 38-19 with 2:01 left in the first half and F&M took a 40-22 lead into the break.
The Diplomats continued to dominant in the opening four minutes of the second half and took a 52-31 lead on two Federici free throws. But the Ospreys answered with an 18-6 run over the next six minutes to come within nine, 58-49, with just under ten minutes to play.
F&M went up 15 points, 66-51, at 5:12 on a Federici jumper before Stockton mounted a comeback. The Ospreys forced three turnovers over the next three minutes to fuel a 10-0 run and came within five, 66-61, with 2:09 left to play. Federici hit two from the line to put F&M up seven and Armin Cane's layup brought Stockton within five with 53 ticks on the clock.
With 35 seconds remaining in the contest, Lee took a feed from Cedric Moune as the shot clock ticked down for a seven-point lead and two key rebounds and a foul shot from Moune during the final 30 seconds of action sealed the victory for F&M.
Federici poured in a game-high 29 points and was named the Tournament MVP. The freshmen went 8-for-13 from the floor and shot 9-for-11 from the line for the Diplomats. Lee netted 18 with five boards and Moune made his way to the All-Tournament with 10 boards, eight points and three blocks. Matthew Tate and Figueroa both scored six for the Diplomats.
Cane paced the visitors with 17 on 8-for-20 shooting and Blamon finished with 16 points for Stockton.
F&M returns to action on Wednesday when the Diplomats travel to Swarthmore for a 7:00 p.m. contest.
