SCRANTON, Pa. -- Despite a career day from Solomon Mathis, Franklin & Marshall fell 89-81 in overtime to Scranton in non-conference men's basketball action on Wednesday evening. The Diplomats (3-5, 1-2 CC) led late in the second half until a three-pointer with three seconds remaining by the Royals (4-4, 0-1 Landmark) knotted the game. The momentum swing favored Scranton in extra time, as the home side ran off field goals on five straight possessions to pull away.

After F&M ran off the first four points of the half, Scranton went on a 20-6 run over the next seven minutes to snag a 20-10 lead with 11:17 remaining. The Diplomats then ran off a 12-1 run of their own to retake the lead on a Solomon Mathis layup with 7:40 left in the half. An Omar Nichols steal and layup at the other end pushed F&M's lead to six with 57 seconds left, which the Royals trimmed to 35-33 at the break.

A quick 4-0 spurt to open the second half gave Scranton a 37-35 advantage - an edge that held until another Solomon Mathis took over. Mathis knotted the game at 42-42 with 16:54 left to kickstart eight straight Diplomat points scored by the senior guard. His final jumper gave F&M a 48-46 lead with 14:04 left. The Diplomats extended that lead to seven on a Julian Thomas layup with 8:13 remaining at 60-53.

Scranton immediately answered with a 10-2 run to retake the lead at 63-62 with 4:05 left. Back-to-back John Seidman layups snared the lead for the Diplomats on their next possessions - a lead that held until the final seconds. A madcap ending possession for the Royals saw them knot the game at 72-72 with three seconds left on a triple to send the game into overtime.

After Mathis hit a pair of free throws to open the extra stanza, Scranton ran off five straight possessions with field goals, then capped it with a set from the charity stripe to run off a 12-3 stretch and put the game out of reach at 84-75. F&M closed the gap to five at 86-81 with 31 seconds left, but three free throws down the stretch closed out the 89-81 win for the Royals.

F&M shot 32-66 (48.5%) from the field, but allowed Scranton to run off 35-67 (52.2%) from the floor. It was a close game throughout, with 24 ties and 22 lead changes. The Royals held the edge in most categories including rebounds (36-34), assists (22-13), points in the paint (56-44), and three point advantages in points off turnovers and 2nd chance points.

Solomon Mathis led the Diplomats with a career-high 28 points on 10-21 from the field. Omar Nichols (14 points), John Seidman (12 points), and Riiny Giir (12 points) joined Mathis in double-figures. Mark Suchy nabbed 11 rebounds for the Diplomats.

F&M will now break for the holiday before returning for the Sponaugle New Years Tournament to face Alfred on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m., following Wilkes and Wesleyan at 5:30pm. The third-place game will be held on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 1:00 p.m., while the tournament championship will take place at 3:00 p.m. at the Mayser Center.