ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall defeated Muhlenberg 81-78 in a thrilling overtime contest Tuesday evening in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action. F&M improved to 4-1, 1-0 CC while the Mules fell to 2-3, 0-1 CC.

Glenn Robinson picked up career win 894 and is six victories away from becoming just the fourth coach to reach 900 NCAA wins.

Tied at 72-72, Cedric Moune put F&M up two early in overtime. The Mules quickly tied the contest before Brandon Federici and Matthew Tate put the Diplomats up four, 78-74, with 2:28 on the clock. Muhlenberg answered with four straight and tied the game at 78-78 with 1:38 left. Federici hit a triple 14 seconds later to make it 81-78 and up put the Diplomats up for good and the Mules were unable to connect on multiple shots in the final 45 seconds of play.

The contest started out slow as both teams struggled early. Tied at 11-11 with a little over eight minutes left in the first half, F&M went on a 10-4 spurt and took a 21-15 lead at 8:09. Cedric Moune made it 25-21 at 5:14 and the Mules answered with a 17-5 run to take a 38-30 lead at the break.

F&M slowly chipped away to the start the second half and a Hunter Eggers layup at 14:02 put F&M up one at 60-49. The teams exchanged buckets over the next five minutes before the Diplomats tallied five straight for a 63-58 edge with 6:32 left in regulation. Jon Schreer's three for the Mules at 2:52 tied the game at 67-67 and the teams traded points down the stretch to send the game into overtime.

Federici led all scorers with 26 points and Cedric Moune finished with his fourth double-double of the year, tallying 18 and hauling in 10 boards. Eggers shot 6-for-11 from the floor from 14 points and Tate handed out six assists to go along with six points.

All five Muhlenberg starters finished in double-figures with John Hunter leading the group with 16.

F&M returns to action next Tuesday when the Diplomats host Ursinus at 8:00 p.m.