LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (6-3, 2-1 CC) earned a hard-fought 66-64 victory over Dubuque (9-3, 3-1 American Rivers) in its first game at the D3 Hoops Classic Wednesday evening at South Point Arena.

Trailing 60-54 with seven minutes left in regulation, F&M began an 8-0 run that was capped by an Omar Nichols' three-pointer to give the Diplomats a 62-60 lead. Dubuque regained the lead by taking a 64-62 advantage with just over a minute remaining in the game, but F&M worked its way to the free throw line in the final 60 seconds. Josh Parra and John Seidman knocked down a combined four points from the charity stripe in the final minute, with the final point coming with six seconds left in the game. The Diplomats held on as the defense put enough pressure on Dubuque to force a long range shot that missed the mark at the buzzer.

Franklin & Marshall faced a nine-point deficit when it trailed 46-37 with 15 minutes left in the second half. Nichols followed Parra's made layup with a three-pointer to cut the Trojans' lead to 48-42. Seidman knocked down a free-throw and Kola Lysynecky made a layup to make it a three-point game with 11:30 remaining in the contest.

Nichols and Parra finished tied for the game-high in points with 16 each in the victory. Nichols was on fire from beyond the arc, as he shot 83.3 percent (5-of-6) from three-point range. Seidman also finished with double-digit points as he scored 13 in the game. Vakaris Grauslys tallied nine points, shooting 50 percent from the field and swiping four steals.

F&M concludes the D3 Hoops Classic Friday with a rematch of the 1991 Division III National Championship as it takes on Wisconsin-Platteville at South Point Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET (4:00 p.m. PT (local)).