ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (8-3, 3-1 CC) picked up a big victory over Centennial Conference foe Muhlenberg (7-4, 2-2 CC), 77-73. F&M presented a strong offensive attack in the second half, shooting 59.3 percent from the field and 71.4 from beyond the arc, to down the Mules.

Trailing 64-61 with 4:11 left in regulation, F&M began a 13-2 run that started with a layup from Josh Parra. After Vakaris Grauslys capitalized off a Muhlenberg turnover by converting a breakaway layup, the guard knocked down a huge three-pointer to give F&M a 70-66 edge. Grauslys went on to lay in two more points on the following possession. John Seidman capped the run by knocking down a pair of free throws to give the Diplomats a 74-66 lead with 54 seconds left in the game. Muhlenberg managed to cut the deficit to three with 15 seconds remaining in the contest, but Jaylen Green chipped in a free throw to ice the game for F&M.

F&M closed out the first half in dominant fashion as they outscored Muhlenberg 9-2 in the final 5:23 of the first frame. Tied 21-all, Green found Seidman for a layup to gain the lead for the Diplomats. Omar Nichols connected from behind the three-point line, followed by a layup from Parra to make it a seven-point F&M lead. After the Mules scored two points, Mark Suchy matched with a layup of his own on the other end to make the score 30-23 going into the halftime intermission.

Franklin & Marshall took a 34-25 lead out of halftime with layups from Suchy and Seidman. F&M controlled a 12-point advantage for its largest lead of the night as Nichols connected with his second three-pointer of the game just under three minutes into the second half.

As a team, the Diplomats shot 47.5 percent from the field and 45 percent from behind the three-point line in the victory.

Four of the five starters for F&M finished with double-digit scoring figures, with Parra leading the way with 17. Parra also grabbed 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Suchy and Grauslys finished with 13 points each, with Grauslys hitting three three-pointers in the game. Seidman tallied 11 points with five rebounds in the win. Green also racked up 11 points with three assists coming off the bench.

Franklin & Marshall returns to the Mayser Center for a Centennial Conference showdown against Swarthmore Saturday at 3:00 p.m.