LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team had the chance to honor its seniors on Saturday as the Diplomats dropped an 81-67 game versus Muhlenberg. Prior to the game, the Diplomats honored the careers of Travis Cumber, Jake Seeherman, Mark Suchy, and Ryan Noyes.

The Diplomats were led by Kevin Nowoswiat's 16 points, while Josh Parra and Omar Nichols both added 15 points. Suchy had a balanced game with five points, five rebounds, and four assists. Cumber also made an appearance in the starting lineup and dished out three assists to go along with his three rebounds. However, that was not enough to overcome a monster 35 points from the Mules' Dan Gaines, while Giovanni Rubino added 25 more.

With both dressed seniors in the starting lineup, the Diplomats raced out to a 12-6 advantage. Parra scored six of those first 12 points, with Suchy getting into the paint to put F&M up six with just under five minutes gone by. A layup from Nowoswiat off a pass from Suchy got the game back to even at the 8:28 mark of the opening half, but 13 consecutive points from the Mules marked the team's longest run of the day and eventually helped Muhlenberg go into the locker rooms with a 46-31 advantage behind another three-pointer from Gaines just before the first half buzzer.

John Seidman scored the opening points of the second half, but Muhlenberg would score the next to seven to push its lead to 20 points during the opening minutes of the period. Seidman later added an and-one basket to cut the lead to 16, but that would be the closest that F&M got until a three-pointer from Vakaris Grauslys off the pass from Cumber with 3:23 remaining in regulation. Omar Nichols would add the final points of the game to make the final an 81-67 win in favor of the Mules.

Franklin & Marshall shot 39.7 percent from the field, but just could not keep pace with the Muhlenberg offensive which shot over 53 percent from the field during the forty minutes. The Diplomats did hit the offensive boards hard and came away with a 12-4 advantage in second chance points after securing 15 offensive rebounds. Suchy and Parra both grabbed four boards from the offensive glass.

Currently sitting one game out of the final playoff spot, the Diplomats will continue their playoff pursuit into the final week of the regular season. However, they will need to do so on the road as Franklin & Marshall will next be in action at Dickinson on Wednesday, February 15. That game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip-off in Carlisle and will be part of a doubleheader with the women's team which starts its game at 6 p.m.