GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Behind a career-high 24 points from Vakaris Grauslys, the Franklin & Marshall Men's Basketball team defeated Gettysburg 65-56 to improve to 5-0 on the season. It was F&M's first win over the Bullets since January of 2019, snapping a seven-game losing streak. 

Following a scoreless two-and-a-half minutes to start the game, Jordan Stafford put the first points on the board with a layup for Gettysburg. Omar Nichols then responded with a three-pointer on the other end before Sebastien Charles knocked down a shot from distance as the Diplomats went up 6-2 at the 15-minute mark. Later trailing 9-4, The Bullets strung together 14 unanswered points to take an 18-9 lead, but a 10-2 F&M run to cut the deficit to one. In the final five minutes of the first half, the Diplomats shot 5-of-8 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, to take a 33-30 edge going into the locker room.

Inside of the first six minutes of the second period, F&M extended its lead to nine, with Grauslys and Kevin Nowoswiat combining for 10 of the team's 12 points in that time frame. Gettysburg, however, stormed back with a 12-2 run to take its first lead since there were just over two minutes left to play in the first half. Down 53-51, Grauslys went on a 10-3 on his own to put the Diplomats on top for good. Nowoswiat hit one final free throw with 31 seconds remaining as F&M claimed its fifth win of the season.

In addition to Grauslys's personal-best, Nowoswiat posted his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. As a team, the Diplomats forced 16 Gettysburg turnovers and scored 23 points off of them.

Up next, F&M will travel to Haverford to take on the Fords on Saturday, December 2 at 3 p.m.