Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall's men's basketball team took a 77-65 win over Ursinus in Saturday's Centennial Conference (CC) regular season finale. The Diplomats improved to 11-14, 7-11 CC while the Bears fell to 12-13, 7-11 CC.

Before Saturday's contest, F&M honored its two seniors, Mike Rice and Ignas Slyka, as well as team manager Jeremy Griel.

The two sides traded three-pointers to split the first 12 point of the game, 6-6. The Bears and Diplomats kept pace with one another until a 30-30 score at 4:13. Ursinus crept out to a five-point edge over the next three minutes, 38-33, at 1:22, but a three by Les Thomas and a jumper by Bo Williams in the final minute cut the deficit to 40-38 ahead of the break.

Neither team could take put together a run early in the second. A trio of free throws by Ryan McMahon knotted the score for the 10th time, 49-49, at 13:22. A Solomon Mathis three ignited a 13-4 run by F&M, finished by a Brian Hines layup with 7:29 to go.

Ursinus quickly cut the deficit back to just four points, 62-58, until Mathis erupted for an 8-0 run by himself, capped by a three-point play at 4:53. The Bears answered with a brief run to narrow the gap to 10 points, 70-60, with 3:45 left before a Justin Kupa basket started a 7-2 run that gave the Diplomats some breathing room, 77-65, at 1:04. One more three-ball was all that F&M surrendered in the final minute before the buzzer sounded.

Thomas paced the offense with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a 4-for-8 performance from behind the arc. The junior also dished out three assists and grabbed three steals.

Kupa added 15 points while Mathis scored 13.

Slyka tallied 12 points and 10 boards for a double-double, chipping in three assists and three steals along the way.

F&M secured a 37-27 rebounding advantage, including a 10-3 disparity on the offensive glass. The Diplomats also out-shot Ursinus from the field, 47%-43%.