LANCASTER, Pa.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (6-1) led for most of the way in Sunday's 74-53 victory over visiting Hamilton (2-4). 

Kevin Nowoswiat totaled a team-best 17 points with six rebounds and two steals, while Steve Donahue shot 5-of-8 from the field with 14 points and five rebounds. Vakaris Grauslys had 12 points, shooting 5-of-5 on free throws, with a team-high five assists. Franklin Jones recorded eight rebounds, six points, three assists, and one steal. 

The sides traded buckets through the opening two minutes until back-to-back triples from Nowoswiat and Grauslys put the hosts ahead, 10-4. Two-straight layups from the Continentals reduced the deficit to two, but a Donahue three put F&M ahead by five points through the first seven minutes. F&M's lead reached double digits for the first time on a Dylan Cormac triple two minutes later, giving the Diplomats a 19-9 advantage. Hamilton scored six points over their next three possessions to cut the gap to four, but F&M again alleviated the pressure with a dunk from Jones and a fastbreak layup from Donahue. Ahead 23-15 with 7:26 remaining in the first half, the sides would trade buckets over the next few minutes before closing out the half on a six-point run that featured four points from Donahue, giving F&M a 36-25 lead at the intermission. The Diplomats shot an efficient 13-of-24 (54.2%) from the field and 4-of-7 (57.1%) beyond the arc in the first half. 

Hamilton had momentum following the intermission, opening on a 7-2 run in the first 3:30 to cut F&M's lead in half to 38-32. A Bryson Amos-Whitfield layup plus an and-one stopped the run, setting up a phase of the game where the teams traded points, with F&M maintaining a seven -point lead with 12 minutes remaining. The Diplomats got their lead back to double digits on a five-point run with four points from Nowoswiat. The Continentals broke the run with a jumper before F&M scored six unanswered, including a dunk from Amos-Whitfield, for a 55-39 lead with nine minutes to go. F&M outscored Hamilton 19-14 in the remaining time, with seven points coming via Grauslys. 

F&M ended the game with a 49.0% field goal percentage against a 34.7% conversion rate from their opponents. The Diplomats also outrebounded the Continentals, 40-26.

The Diplomats play one more game before the winter break, traveling to Stevens on Wednesday, December 3, at 6:00 p.m.