LANCASTER, Pa. -- Hunter Eggers scored eight points in the final 1:14 of action to help deliver No. 17 Franklin & Marshall a dramatic 57-54 victory over Swarthmore in Centennial Conference (CC) action Saturday afternoon at the Mayser Center. The win puts F&M on top of the conference as the Diplomats improved to 10-2, 5-0 CC while the Garnet dropped 10-2, 4-1 CC. 

Glenn Robinson achieved another milestone with the victory. In addition to being the most victorious coach in NCAA Division III history, Robinson joins only Mike Krzyzewski (1,032), Herb Magee (1,021), and Bob Knight (902) as the only coaches to record 900 NCAA wins.

You can read more about Robinson's march to 900 by clicking here.

Cedric Moune hit two from the line with 7:39 left to play to give Franklin & Marshall a 41-36 lead before the Garnet answered with an 8-2 spurt to go up one, 44-43, with 4:41 on the clock. The teams traded points over the next few minutes with Swarthmore clinging to a 52-50 edge after a 3-pointer from Sam Lebryk. Lionel Owona brought the Diplomats within a point after hitting one of his two shots from the line.

Then Eggers took over.

Eggers stole the ball from Matt Brennan on the Garnet's next possession and raced down the court for a layup that put the Diplomats up 53-52 with 1:11 on the clock. Brennan hit two from the stripe to put the Garnet back on top and Eggers answered again with a jumper with 31 seconds left to give F&M a 55-54 lead. Swarthmore took the clock down under 10 seconds and attempted a shot with under five ticks on the scoreboard, but the ball fell short, resulting in a shot clock violation. Eggers was fouled before the inbound pass and the junior sealed the contest with two free throws with a little more than a second on the clock. 

The first half started out as a defensive battle and both teams struggled to find the net. Moune's layup at 7:32 made it 6-6 and kicked off a 7-2 F&M run. The Diplomats increased their lead to 11, 21-10, with three minutes left in the half, but the Garnet countered and closed out the stanza with a 9-2 spurt to make it 23-19 at intermission.

Swarthmore continued the momentum in the second by outscoring F&M 9-4 to take at 28-27 lead and the Diplomats answered with five straight to go up 33-28. Nicholas Stern made it 35-30 at 11:28 and the Garnet slowly chipped away to come within a point. F&M scored four unanswered over the next several minutes, setting up the final seven minutes of action.

Eggers finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-for-17 shooting, adding five assists and five rebounds. Brandon Federici finished with 13 points and Moune netted 11 with nine boards.

Sam Lebryk paced the Garnet with 16 and Chris Bourne ended with a double-double scoring, 12 and pulling down 13 boards. 

F&M returns to action on Tuesday when the Diplomats travel to Haverford for an 8:00 p.m. game.