CHESTERTOWN, Md. – No. 16 Franklin & Marshall fell 81-80 in overtime to Washington in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats dropped to 17-4, 10-4 CC while the Shoremen improved to 3-18, 3-11 CC. 

Washington jumped out to a 13-3 lead five minutes into the contest and the Diplomats slowly chipped by outscoring the Shoremen 10-5 over the next six minutes to come within five, 18-13, at 9:39. The Shoremen answered with seven straight and took their largest lead of the game, 25-13, before F&M put together 13-4 run to come within three, 29-26, at 3:53.

The teams traded points over the next three minutes and F&M came within two on a Lionel Owona layup, but James Drury hit a trey with six ticks on the clock to give Washington a 37-32 halftime lead.

Washington stayed on top the first half of the second stanza and a Drury three made it 59-54 before Brandon Federici kicked off an 8-0 run with seven points of his own for F&M's first lead of the game, 62-60, at 6:35. The Shoremen went back up a point, but F&M countered with six straight for a five-point advantage, 70-65, with a little over two minutes left in regulation.  

The Shoremen answer with five straight and a Jared Wright free three made it 71-69. Pat Morgan missed a three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining, but Drury got the offensive board and was fouled. Drury made both free throws to tie the game at 71-71 with nine seconds left and a jumper by Federici went off the rim as time expired to send the game into overtime.

Joey Shelton scored the first points of overtime to put Washington up 73-71, but Cedric Moune hit two from line seconds later to tie the game a 73-73. The teams exchanged points over the next two minutes with Washington holding onto a 77-74 edge before a Moune layup at 2:16 brought F&M within a point, 77-76.

Drury hit two from the stripe to make it 79-76 and a Federici layup with 31 seconds left made it a one-point contest, 79-78. Two free throws by the Shoremen made it 81-78 and Federici had to settle for a layup with under a second left on F&M's next possession to make it 81-80 before the Shoremen were able to run out the clock to secure the win.

Federici scored a game-high 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting while Moune finished with 21 points, hitting 9-of-10 from the floor. He added eight boards, four blocks and two steals for the Diplomats and Jared Wright netted 11 off the bench.

Dave Knox and Drury both had 19 points for Shoremen and John Weston along with Tas Dixon both finished with 10 points.

F&M outshot Washington 50-43 percent and forced 25 turnovers, which resulted in 29 points.

The Diplomats return to action on Wednesday when F&M hosts Ursinus at 8:00 p.m.