WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (12-13, 7-11 CC) punched its ticket to the Centennial Conference playoffs with a 58-56 victory over McDaniel (8-16, 4-14 CC) in its regular season finale Saturday afternoon.

McDaniel knocked down a three-pointer with five seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 56-all. F&M called a timeout with 1.6 seconds on the clock to draw up the game-winning play. Josh Parra created separation from his defender to catch and shoot the inbound pass from Jaylen Green. The shot bounced off the back rim and through the hoop as the buzzer sounded – giving the Diplomats the victory.

F&M and McDaniel battled the entire game, but the tone was set early as the teams were neck and neck through the first 20 minutes of the contest. Tied 22-all with 3:35 left in the first half, F&M jumped out to a four-point advantage as Vakaris Grauslys and John Seidman recorded layups on consecutive possessions. After McDaniel cut its deficit to two points on a jumper, Grauslys knocked down a free throw to give the Diplomats a 27-24 lead entering halftime.

Leading 31-29 just three minutes into the second half, Franklin & Marshall cushioned its advantage by scoring six unanswered points. Mark Suchy found Seidman on a cut to the basket for a layup to give F&M a four-point lead. Omar Nichols hit a free throw after McDaniel was assessed a technical foul to extend the lead to 34-29. Grauslys and Nichols added three more points combined from the charity stripe – forcing McDaniel to take a timeout down 37-29 with 14:42 remaining in the game.

The Green Terror clawed all the way back to tie the game up at 49-all with 3:40 left in regulation to set up the thrilling ending to the contest.

Grauslys, Nichols, and Parra all finished with double-digit scoring figures as all three players tallied 12 points each in the victory. Seidman led the Diplomats in rebounds, collecting nine boards in the game.

With the win, Franklin & Marshall punches its ticket to the Centennial Conference playoffs as the No. 6 seed. F&M travels to face No. 3 seed Gettysburg in the first round on Tuesday. Time of the game is still to be determined.