CARLISE, Pa. — No. 21 Franklin & Marshall dropped a hard-fought contest, 55-50, to Dickinson in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Wednesday evening. The Diplomats dropped to 13-3, 7-2 CC while the Red Devils improved to 9-7, 5-4 CC. 

After a slow start with the game tied a 10-10 seven minutes in, F&M went on a 9-0 run and took a 19-10 lead with 10 minutes left. After two free throws from J.C. McGrath F&M led 24-15 at 5:51. Dickinson came within three, 25-22, with a little less than three to play and after trading baskets, F&M took a 27-24 lead into the break.

The Red Devils made it a one-point game to start out the second, but the Diplomats quickly went up six, 34-28 at 17:52. Dickinson came within four, 34-30, but both teams struggled to find the net as the neither scored over the ensuing four minutes. 

F&M took a 36-33 lead on a Matt Groll layup a few minutes later and the Diplomats went up eight, 41-33, at 10:24. Dickinson slowly chipped away and outscored F&M 22-9 during the final 10 minutes to secure the win.

J.C. McGrath and Brandon Federici both finished with 14 points. McGrath added eight rebounds to his stat line and Ignas Slyka chipped in nine for F&M.

Dickinson outshot F&M 42-31 percent and held a slight 37-34 edge on the glass.

F&M returns to action on Saturday when the Diplomats travel to Haverford for a 3:00 p.m. game.