MEDFORD, Mass. – Skidmore erased a 19-point halftime deficit to defeat No. 21 Franklin & Marshall 83-72 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Diplomats dropped to 22-6 while the Thoroughbreds improved to 19-8 and will face the winner of Tufts and Southern Vermont in tomorrow's second round action. 

Skidmore opened the second half with a 7-0 run to make it 44-32, but the Diplomats countered with seven of their own and went back up 19 points, 51-32, with 17 minutes left in the half.

Then Skidmore hit another gear.

With Cedric Moune on the bench in foul trouble, the Thoroughbreds scored 13 straight to come within six and tacked on eight more, after two from Federici, and tied the game at 53-53 with a little over 10 minutes to play. 

The teams exchanged buckets over the next few minutes with F&M leading 59-58 on a Jared Wright layup, before Skidmore outscored F&M 8-2 to take a 66-61 lead at 6:39. F&M answered with an 8-2 spurt on their own and went up 69-68 at 4:06 and Skidmore took the lead two possessions later with two from the line. Moune tied the game at 70-70, and the Thoroughbreds put the game out of reach with 10 straight as the Diplomats came up empty on five possessions in the final two minutes of action.

Tied at 5-5 three minutes into the first half F&M went on a Matthew Tate led 9-0 run and took a 14-5 lead at 14:46. Skidmore answered by outscoring the Diplomats 7-2 and came within four, 16-12 at 11:39. F&M went up seven on Tate triple on Diplomats next possession and the Thoroughbreds responded with seven straight to come within one, 19-18, with 9:09 left in the half.

Skidmore came within three, 25-22, at 6:28 and then Brandon Federici took over. Federici netted 16 straight points in a span of 4:31 to give F&M an 18-point, 41-23, with 1:13 left until the break. Hunter Eggers drained a triple with 25 ticks on the clock for a 44-23 lead, and the Diplomats went into the break leading 44-25.

Federici had 20 points in the first half and finished with 31, shooting 10-for-10 from the line. Eggers netted 14 and grabbed eight boards while Tate chipped in 13. Moune finished with nine points and seven rebounds for F&M.

F&M finished the year with a 22-6 mark and earned its 24th trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Diplomats eighth CC Crown, and the 19th overall conference title. The 22 wins mark the 27th time in school history F&M has finished with 20 or more wins in a season.