LANCASTER, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (10-4, 1-1 Centennial) lost a hard-fought duel to (RV) Gettysburg (9-5, 1-1 Centennial) at the Mayser Gymnasium on Wednesday night, 74-72.

The lead swapped 11 times across the contest, and neither team led by more than eight points. Vakaris Grauslys led the way for F&M with 26 points and a team-best four assists. He converted 9-of-22 field goals, 3-of-11 threes, and 5-of-6 free throws. Dylan Cormac was efficient from the bench, posting 16 points and not missing any of his four three-point field goal attempts. Kevin Nowoswiat collected 17 points, shooting 6-of-12 field goals and 4-of-4 free throws. Josh Parra led the team in both steals (four) and rebounds (eight). 

Following a game-opening layup from Parra, Gettysburg swiftly claimed the lead via back-to-back threes. A Grauslys three a possession later brought F&M within one at 6-5, and Seidman soon tied the game with a three at 10-10. The Bullets were able to score five straight, leading 15-10 through six minutes. They pushed to a first-half best advantage of 22-15 at 10:15, but the Diplomats got back within a point via threes from Cormac and Grauslys. Despite this, F&M was unable to draw level the rest of the way, hovering a few points back for the rest of the half. They entered the midway break behind 38-36.

F&M opened the half with four points for their first lead since the game's opening basket. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes, with the bullets drawing ahead on consecutive layups to lead again at 44-42 through the first five minutes. This set up a spell of four-straight possessions where the lead was swapped, with F&M taking control for the middle stages of the second half on a Grauslys layup at 47-46 with 13:00 remaining. This kicked off a 10-2 run for the Diplomats who garnered a game-high lead of 55-47 with 11:33 to go. 

Gettysburg called timeout on Cormac's run-closing three that began a 9-2 run to get back within one point, down 57-56 with nine minutes to go. F&M resisted the pressure over the next few possessions with a 5-2 run with all five points coming from Nowoswiat. The lead hovered around a couple points until the 2:03 mark, as Gettysburg knocked down two free throws to retake the lead at 67-66. Grauslys did the same on the next possession, and the teams traded the buckets one more time to put the Bullets ahead 71-70 with 0:51 to go. 

F&M missed a three on their next chance and Gettysburg converted both of their free throws after drawing a foul on a defensive rebound. A Grauslys driving layup put F&M within a point at 73-72, but Gettysburg sank 1 of 2 free throws after being fouled again to lead by two. Following a missed Grauslys layup with eight seconds to go, F&M was forced to foul, but the Bullets missed both free throws with five seconds on the clock. Grauslys' long-range buzzer-beating three was off the mark to end the game.

The Bullets won on the glass 36-26, and they limited turnovers to just six. 

The Diplomats will look to bounce back as they travel to Johns Hopkins on Saturday, January 15, at 3:00 p.m.