SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Brandon Federici scored seven points in the final two minutes of action to help deliver No. 16 Franklin & Marshall a 72-66 victory over Swarthmore Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference (CC) action. The Diplomats improved to 18-3, 13-1 CC and take a three-game lead in the conference standings with four contests left in the regular season while Swarthmore fell to 16-5, 10-4 CC. 

Trailing 64-62 with 2:09 left to play, Federici hit three from the line to put F&M up 65-64 and after a steal hit two more at 1:08 for a 67-64 F&M edge. Swarthmore came within a point before a Cedric Moune steal led to two more points from Federici. Moune picked up another steal on the Garnet's next possession and Matthew Tate hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game and put the game out of reach for Swarthmore.

F&M jumped out to an early 7-0 lead two minutes in and a Hunter Eggers jumper made it 19-11 at 12:09. Swarthmore netted five straight and came within three, 19-16, and stayed within striking distance. Jared Wright made it 25-19 before Swarthmore closed out the half with 9-2 run and took a 28-27 edge into the break.

The Garnet quickly went up six, 37-31, in the opening minutes in the second and the Diplomats answered with a 9-0 spurt and went up 40-37 on a Federici triple. Five lead changes and six ties ensued over the next 10 minutes with Swarthmore clinging to a 64-62 lead at 2:09 which set up Federici's heroics in the final minutes.

Federici went 7-for-13 and finished with a game-high 27 points. Eggers added 21 points and Moune ended with six points and six boards. Tate had five assists to go along with five points and Wright chipped in six points for F&M.

Zack Yonda paced Swarthmore with 17 while Matt Brennan and Henry Cousineau both netted 15.

F&M continues its road trip with two away games next week. The Diplomats travel to Ursinus on Wednesday for a 6:00 p.m. game before heading to Johns Hopkins for a 1:00 p.m. tilt.