ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Cedric Moune picked up his sixth double-double this season to lead Franklin & Marshall to a 65-56 victory over Muhlenberg in Centennial Conference (CC) basketball action Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats improved to 19-4, 12-4 CC while the Mules dropped to 11-12, 6-10 CC.  The win was the eighth straight over Mules as F&M pushed its series lead to 89-32. 

F&M never trailed and jumped out to an 11-3 lead on a Brandon Federici triple seven minutes into the contest.  The Mules netted five straight to come within three, 11-8, and made it a two-point game, 17-15, at 6:15. Moune and Morgan Lee combined for nine points for a 9-2 run for the Diplomats to give F&M a 26-17 edge with two minutes left and the Diplomats went into the break with a 26-19 lead.

Muhlenberg opened the second by outscoring F&M 9-5 in the opening 2:23 of the half to come within three, 31-28 before a Matthew Tate three fueled a 9-2 spurt for F&M. The Diplomats stayed out front and went up 12, 50-38, and lead by as least nine the remainder of the contest. The Diplomats took their largest lead of the game, 59-43, with 2:55 left before cruising to the nine-point victory.

Moune shot 7-for-11 from the floor for 16 points and pulled down a game-high 11 boards. Federici finished with 17 points and has scored in double-figures in 21-of-23 games this year. Lee finished with 12 points and collected six rebounds while Tate and Devin Figueroa both netted seven.

Nick Rindock and Brandon Larose both scored 14 points for the Mules and Malique Killing managed just 10.

The Diplomats held a 39-26 edge on the boards and converted 14 turnovers into 12 points while the Mules outshot F&M 43-40 percent.

F&M returns to action on Wednesday when the Diplomats travel to Gettysburg for an 8:00 p.m. contest before hosting Dickinson on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in the regular season finale.