LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team led for over half of Wednesday night's Centennial Conference matchup with Gettysburg, but the visiting Bullets outscored the Diplomats 48-32 during the final 20 minutes to come away with a 72-64 victory inside the Mayser Center.

Omar Nichols led the Diplomats' offense with 17 points, with Josh Parra adding 16 more. However, that was not enough to overcome four Bullets who finished in double figures, led by Elijah Williams' 19 points.

Franklin & Marshall scored the opening points of the game on a Parra layup during the first possession and held the outright lead for nearly six full minutes before the Bullets claimed their first advantage of the night. As soon as the Diplomats were holding a 15-11 advantage, the visitors scored the next 11 points to take their largest lead of the night.

Trailing 24-17 with just over six minutes to play, the Diplomats had the final run of the opening half as they held the Bullets without a point during that remaining time in the half and would head into the locker room leading 32-24 at the break on the heels of a 15-0 run.

The Diplomats picked up where they left off and got two more points from Nichols - extending the run to 17-0 - and making the lead 34-24. F&M matched its largest lead of the night a couple possessions later when John Seidman found Parra inside to put the hosts in front 36-26. Nevertheless, Gettysburg roared back over the next few minutes and eventually took the lead on a Williams' dunk following an F&M turnover to go in front 46-45 at the halfway point of the second period.

That basket seemed to flip the momentum of the game as the Bullets would hold their largest lead of the night, 61-50, with just over four minutes remaining in regulation time. F&M was still facing that 11-point deficit at 68-57 with 1:16 to play and got no closer than six in the remaining seconds as Nicholas knocked down a three-pointer off the pass from Seidman to make the score 68-62. As F&M was forced to foul, Gettysburg went on to close out the 72-64 victory at the free throw line.

Franklin & Marshall matched Gettysburg's scoring output at the free throw line and knocked down two more triples than their Bullet counterparts. Nevertheless, Gettysburg shot 54 percent from the field thanks in large part to a 46-32 advantage on points in the point. The Diplomats did force 20 Gettysburg turnovers, 12 of which came via steals. Vakaris Grauslys led all players with five steals, while Travis Cumber and Parra added three more takeaways each.

Still tied for the sixth and final playoff spot and holding the tiebreaker with two head-to-head victories over Haverford, Franklin & Marshall faces another tough challenge this weekend as the Diplomats travel to No. 10 Swarthmore. That matchup with the Garnet is set for a 3 p.m. tip.