LANCASTER, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall men's basketball cruised past McDaniel 77-55 to celebrate Senior Day in style at the Mayser Center on Saturday afternoon. The Diplomats (10-15, 7-11 CC) led by a dozen at the break, then extended its lead to as many as 25 in the second half in the Centennial Conference (CC) victory over the Green Terror (11-14, 5-13 CC).

Prior to the game, the team recognized four members of the senior class - Justin Peirce, Kane Feudtner, Watida Mukukula, and Solomon Mathis.

Mathis was downright dominant to start the contest, scoring ten of the Diplomats' first 13 points in the first 7:17. The senior guard outscored the McDaniel offense for nearly the first ten minutes of the game, hitting pull-up jumper after pull-up jumper from the elbow. After jumping out to the initial 13-9 advantage, F&M opened the edge to seven on a Riiny Giir three-pointer with 10:21 to play in the half. After the Green Terror narrowed the margin to 20-16 a few minutes later, the Diplomats went on a 12-2 tear to blow the game open as Mark Suchy and Omar Nichols hit triples to extend the lead. A 6-2 stretch by McDaniel was ended with a Josh Parra layup to give F&M a 36-24 lead at the break.

F&M continued to come out firing on all cylinders to start the second half, hitting five of its first six shots from the field, starting with an 8-0 stretch to extend its lead to 20 with just 1:02 off the clock. Riiny Giir pumped in an alley-oop off a John Seidman dime, finishing with an and-one attempt from the stripe, followed by another Nichols bomb from long range. McDaniel made it a game, chipping away at the Diplomat advantage to pull within a dozen (59-47) with 8:15 left. A dagger three-ball from Mathis ended the run, followed by another triple from Nichols, and one more pull-up jumper for good measure from Mathis for an 8-0 spurt that put F&M back up by 20 with 6:43 to play. A five point run from Nichols ballooned the Diplomats lead to 25 with 2:23 left, their largest of the contest. After one final substitution to pay tribute to the senior class, F&M cruised to the 77-55 final.

Solomon Mathis and Omar Nichols led the way for F&M, scoring 23 and 20, respectively. Mathis hit 10-18 from the field, while Nichols did most of his damage from beyond the arc, hitting 4-6 from deep. John Seidman nearly finished with a double-double, ending with nine points and eight assists. Riiny Giir hit for 12 points, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field. Kane Feudtner pulled down six rebounds and swatted two shots in his first career start.

F&M shot a blistering 55.2% from the field, including 9-19 from beyond the arc. The defense stood up tall, limiting McDaniel to 37.9% shooting, including just 33.3% in the first half.The Diplomats also held edges in points off turnovers (13-4) and fast break points (13-2). The Diplomats committed just three turnovers, while forcing 11.