HOBOKEN, N.J.- After trailing by 19 points midway through the first half, the (RV) Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (7-1) completed a comeback victory with a 77-74 overtime victory at Stevens (4-2), moving the Diplomats' winning streak to seven.

Kevin Nowoswiat led the offense with 25 points, five rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Vakaris Grauslys totaled 13 points with five rebounds, a team-best six assists, two steals, and one blocked shot. Steve Donahue had ten points with six rebounds, while Franklin Jones posted eight points, eight rebounds, and a blocked shot. Bohdan Biekietov recorded eight points with five rebounds, while Dylan Cormac had two triples from the bench.

After trailing by 19 points with 8:30 remaining in the first half, F&M opened the second half with an 11-point run to regain the lead at 40-39, and the teams sparred to a 66-66 tie, sending the game to overtime. Stevens forced a steal on F&M's opening overtime possession and claimed the lead with a layup. A Donahue free throw followed by two converted free throws from Nowoswiat a possession later gave the Diplomats a 69-68 lead through the first 1:15. Following a missed Stevens layup, Bryson Amos-Whitfield extended F&M's lead to four with a left-corner triple. Stevens drew fouls on both of their next possessions, converting three of four shots to cut the lead to one with two minutes to play. Grauslys drew a foul on a defensive rebound 30 seconds later, and he converted one of two free throws. The Ducks countered on their next possession with a game-tying layup. 

Following a timeout, Jones drove into the paint, converting a layup to give the Diplomats a two-point advantage entering the last 30 seconds. He forced a steal on the next possession and drew a foul but was unable to add to the lead at the stripe. Amos-Whitfield stole the rebounded second free throw from the Ducks, and Grauslys drew a foul moments later. He converted both of his shots to put F&M ahead by four points with 16 seconds to go. Stevens missed a couple of shots on their next possession but retained the ball long enough to draw a foul with one second remaining. They sank their first three throw to get back within three, but the intentional miss did not fall to a Stevens player, securing the Diplomats their seventh-consecutive victory at 77-74.

To get back into contention, the Diplomats had to erase an early 34-15 deficit, as Stevens made use of seven triples in the opening 12 minutes to gain an early advantage. F&M began to work into the deficit promptly, going on a seven-point run started by a Donahue three to cut the lead to 34-22. The sides traded points over the next few minutes, while a late Cormac three reduced the lead to ten points at halftime with F&M trailing, 39-29. 

F&M began the second half by scoring the first 11 points, with six from Nowoswiat and five from Grauslys, claiming their first lead since the opening minutes at 40-39 with 15:48 remaining. Stevens scored their first points of the half moments later on back-to-back three, serving as a platform to maintain a modest lead over the middle of the half. Behind 55-47 with nine minutes to go, the Diplomats scored ten of the next 12 points to tie the game at 57-57 on a Grauslys layup with five minutes to play. A Jones layup moments later put F&M back ahead. The sides traded buckets to a 61-61 tie, while a Nowoswiat three was then countered by a Ducks three to again tie the contest at 64-apiece. Nowoswiat regained the lead with 38 seconds, but yet again Stevens tied with a jumper with 15 seconds to play. Amos-Whitfield's left-wing three in the waning seconds missed the mark to send the game to overtime.

Across the game, F&M won the battle off the glass, 47-32, and won the turnover duel, 10-13. Stevens was most effective on threes, shooting 12-of-20 (58.3%).

The Diplomats return from the break for the Franklin & Marshall Holiday Tournament on December 29th and December 30th. They'll face the City College of New York in the opener on Monday, December 29th, at 4:00 p.m. before facing either No. 20 Drew or Lancaster Bible the following day.