GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 67-55 Centennial Conference contest on the road Thursday at Gettysburg. The game was a tight battle with five ties and five lead changes during the second half. F&M had just leveled the game at 51-all with 6:09 remaining in regulation before the Bullets pulled away late.

Omar Nichols led the Diplomats with 17 points, while John Seidman added 14 more as Franklin & Marshall got 53 points from its starting lineup. Nevertheless, that was not enough to overcome a pair of 20-point performances from the Bullets as they shot over 51 percent from the field.

Franklin & Marshall was holding a 27-26 edge after 20 minutes as the visitors limited the Bullets to just 1-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first half and also had the better of the scoring at the free throw line. Nichols knocked down a trio of treys throughout Thursday's game, but converted an old-fashioned three-point play to get his team within one late in the first half. The Diplomats eventually took the lead on a Vakaris Grauslys layup before Travis Cumber came away with a steal that immediately led to another basket in the paint from Mark Suchy for the team's final points of the half.

Just three times during the first 15 minutes of the second half was either team ahead by more than a single possession. Gettysburg held its final four-point advantage of the night at the 7:47 mark before Seidman and Grauslys evened the scored at the free throw line. As a team, the Diplomats shot a season-best 14-of-19 (73.7%) from the line to knot the score at 51 with 6:09 left in regulation time.

Even with the momentum seemingly creeping in F&M's favor, it was the host Bullets who scored 16 of the game's final 20 points to make the score at the final buzzer not at all indicative of the competitive balance throughout the conference contest. The cold shooting from the field down the stretch was certainly not for a lack of effort as the Diplomats collected seven offensive boards during those final minutes as they finished with 18 offensive boards. Suchy led the rebounding efforts with 10 boards - including seven on the offensive glass - to go along with his six points.

Despite that persistence on the offensive end of the court, it was Gettysburg who owned a 14-8 advantage in second chance points. The defensive presence of Josh Parra was certainly missed as the Bullets finished with a 42-26 edge on scoring in the paint.

Men's basketball will now look to end its three-game week on a high note as the Diplomats welcome McDaniel to the Mayser Center this Saturday for a 3 p.m. scheduled tip. That game will serve as part of a Centennial Conference doubleheader with the women's game versus the Green Terror getting underway at 1 p.m.