GRANTHAM, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall downed New Jersey City 79-67 in a hard-fought contest at the Townes Place Suites Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Messiah Friday evening. The Diplomats remained undefeated at 3-0 and will take on Lancaster Bible at 3:00 p.m. in the championship game tomorrow while the Gothic Knights dropped to 0-2 and will face Messiah at 1:00 p.m. in the consolation game. 

Glenn Robinson picked up career win 893 and is just seven victories away from becoming just the fourth coach to reach 900 NCAA wins. 

The game went back-and-forth for most of the first half with eight ties and four lead changes. NJC led 21-20 12 minutes into the game before a free throw from Jordan Phelps but the Diplomats up two at 7:33 and the Gothic Knights went back on top two minutes later. Jared Wright kicked off a 14-5 run to close out the half and the Diplomats took a 38-29 lead into the break.

Brandon Federici led all scorers in the opening frame with 14 points and Wright chipped in eight for the Diplomats.

F&M hit another gear in the second half and continued its run by opening the stanza with a 10-0 run to take a 48-29 lead on a Matthew Tate triple at 15:47. Five straight from Tate gave F&M a 64-49 lead with seven minutes left and a Phelps dunk at 2:14 put F&M up 73-59 and Diplomats withstood a late spurt by NJC to secure the win.

Federici led the Diplomats with 21 points in 34 minutes of action while Cedric Moune finished with his third straight double-double with 14 points and 13 boards. Wright hit 12-of-14 from the line and ended with 16 and both Phelps and Tate netted eight for F&M.

Jalen Harris knocked in 26 for the Gothic Knights to lead all scores and Chinwe Wosu finished with 17 for NJC.

F&M outshot the Gothic Knights 46-36 percent while NJC held a slight 40-39 edge on the class.