LANCASTER, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (7-4) denied a late comeback from Mary Washington (6-6) in a 58-52 defeat of the Eagles on Thursday afternoon.

Sebastien Charles had a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double from the bench, shooting 4-of-7 three pointers. Kevin Nowoswiat led the offense with 16 points alongside seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Vakaris Grauslys totaled 14 points with four assists, while Josh Parra had six points and seven rebounds. 

F&M opened the game with threes from Nowoswiat and Grauslys to go up 6-0 in the first three minutes. Mary Washington found momentum off a fast-break layup that started an eight-point run over a 90-second spell. F&M regained the lead off back-to-back Parra layups to go up 10-8. Following a corner three from the Eagles, Franklin Jones turned a mid-court steal into a dunk to regain the lead again. This was the start of a 10-2 run that included threes from Grauslys and Charles to go ahead 20-13. 

Mary Washington closed the gap with five-straight points. A Nowoswiat three broke the run for a moment, as the Eagles scored six straight to lead by a point with 4:00 left in the half. F&M ended the half on a high, scoring ten of the last 12 points, including a pair of Charles threes, to lead 33-26 at the break. The Diplomats were an efficient 46.2% on field goals in the first half.

After a Mary Washington layup, F&M stretched their lead to ten via a layup and three from Nowoswiat in a low-scoring five minutes to open the second half. The lead hovered around that margin for the middle stages of the second half, with the Eagles getting within five points on a 3-of-3 trip at the charity stripe before falling nine behind at 49-40 with 8:17 left. Down six with two minutes left, Mary Washington converted a pair of layups to make it a 54-52 contest with 0:48 on the clock. 

Mary Washington called timeout, but Grauslys followed with a key driving layup on the next possession to go up by four with 20 seconds to go. Mary Washington missed a three on their next spell, Charles earned the rebound, and Grauslys was fouled with the chance to put the game away with six seconds left. He converted both free throws to earn a 58-52 win. 

The Diplomats ended the game having converted 37.5% of three-pointer chances, while they won the battle on the glass 36-29. 

F&M concludes non-conference play at Hamilton on Tuesday, January 7, at 1:00 p.m.