LANCASTER, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall watched a six-point halftime lead evaporate after scoring only 12 points after the break in a 50-40 loss to Haverford in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Saturday afternoon at the Mayser Center. The Diplomats (4-5, 2-3 CC) tickled twine just four times in the final twenty minutes, while the Fords (6-3, 3-2 CC) hit their first five shots of the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory.

It was a tight start for both sides, with F&M taking a slim 8-6 lead with 5:02 left in the first quarter on Maia Lockhart's jumper. A quick 7-0 spurt from the Fords gave them their largest lead of the first half with 2:11 left at 13-8, which the Diplomats narrowed to 13-10 on a Jaclyn Feit layup to close the quarter. After exchanging buckets to start the second quarter, the Diplomats erupted for a 12-0 run that spanned nearly the next five minutes. Back-to-back triples by Lockhart and D'Naisha Bellamy-Greene highlighted the run that gave F&M its largest lead  of the game at 26-15 with 3:50 remaining. A 7-2 stretch by the Fords closed the F&M edge to 28-22 at the half.

After the break, F&M suffered a cold snap. The Diplomats missed their next eleven shots from the field, with the lone F&M field goal of the quarter coming on a Kenna Williams layup with 3:16 remaining. Haverford wasn't much better during the stanza, shooting just 4-21 to only close the gap to a single point entering the fourth at 31-30.

Haverford came out hot shooting in the final period, hitting its first five from the field to snag a 42-37 lead with 4:32 to play. F&M closed the gap to 44-40 on another Williams layup with 2:12 left, but that is as close as they got the remainder of the way as the Fords scored six straight to close out a 50-40 road victory.

F&M shot 16-67 (23.9%) from the field, including just 2-18 from beyond the arc. Haverford fared a bit better, hitting 18-61 (29.5%) from the field. The Fords held slight edges in rebounds (47-44), points in the paint (28-22), and second chance points (13-6).

Maia Lockhart led the team with nine points, while D'Naisha Bellamy-Greene ended with eight. Kenna Williams finished with a dozen rebounds and four blocks to pair with six points.

F&M has the rest of the month off for holiday break before returning to action at nationally-ranked Messiah on Monday, Jan. 3 beginning at 6:00 p.m.