NEWARK, N.J.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (3-1) maintained a steady lead for much of Saturday's 66-57 win over Rutgers-Newark, winning the John K. Adams Tip-Off Classic tournament championship. Kevin Nowoswiat became F&M's 40th player to reach 1,000 career points with his ninth point of the game. 

Vakaris Grauslys led the offense with 20 points, going 9-of-10 on free throws, with a team-best four assists. Kevin Nowoswiat notched his second double-double of the weekend, posting 14 points and ten rebounds with a team-high four assists. Steve Donahue posted ten points, shooting 4-of-5 on field goals. Franklin Jones recorded nine rebounds and six points, while Bryson Amos-Whitfield had nine points from the bench. 

Nowoswiat accounted for the first seven points of the game for the Diplomats within three minutes of play to give F&M a 7-0 advantage. The Scarlet Raiders cut into the lead with a five-point run, putting F&M's lead at 7-5 through five minutes. Ahead 9-5, F&M lost the lead for the one-and-only time of the game when Rutgers-Newark sank back-to-back threes for an 11-9 advantage. That lead lasted for minutes, as an Asad Syed three put the Diplomats back in front, beginning an eight-point run in the process. Through ten minutes, the Diplomats now held a 17-13 lead. Rutgers-Newark got back within three points entering the last two minutes of the half, but Diplomats would eventually enter the break with a five-point lead.

The Scarlet Raiders opened the second half with a three inside of 15 seconds to quickly reduce F&M's lead to just two points. The Diplomats followed this up with layups from Donahue and Grauslys to push their advantage back to six points. The Diplomats maintained a lead near this margin early in the second half, reaching a nine-point lead at 45-36 with 13 minutes remaining following back-to-back layups from Amos-Whitfield and Donahue. 

Just a minute later, the hosts put the pressure on F&M with a game-tying nine-point run over a two-minute span that included a pair of triples, tying the game at 47-47. The Diplomats reclaimed momentum by scoring the next six points, including four consecutive points from Grauslys. Rutgers-Newark again cut into the lead with a four-point run, but F&M yet again relieved pressure with a five-point run to put the Diplomats' ahead at 58-51 with four minutes left. They maintained this lead in the final minutes, as Rutgers-Newark got no closer than within five points in the remaining time.  

The Diplomats return to the Mayser Center to host Albright on Thursday, November 20, at 7:30 p.m.