WESTMINSTER, Md.- The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (13-6, 5-2 Centennial) powered past McDaniel (11-8, 1-6 Centennial) in the second half in a 69-57 win on Saturday afternoon. 

Kevin Nowoswiat yet again delivered a double-figure offensive performance, totaling 24 points and shooting 10-of-17 (58.8%) on field goals. He was one of four players to hit double digits. John Seidman posted 15 in his race to 1,000 points, converting on all five of his field goals with a team-best three steals and two blocked shots. He's now 35 points from becoming the 38th 1,000-point club member at F&M. Vakarius Grauslys had 11 points and a team-high six rebounds, while Josh Parra totaled ten points. Sebastien Charles had five rebounds from the bench. 

Neither side led by more than four points in a back-and-forth first half that featured nine lead changes and six ties. McDaniel got on the board first 1:45 into the game with a layup, but F&M retook the lead via consecutive Nowoswiat layups. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes, with F&M down 11-10 with ten minutes to play. From there, the teams swapped the lead four times over the next for possession,with McDaniel reaching a half-best 18-14 lead thanks to a 5-0 run. 

The Diplomats fought back with a seven-point run that included four points from Parra and a Steve Donahue three for a 21-18 lead. McDaniel drew level at 21-21 with a three, but Seidman would score three points over the next two possessions. The hosts would tie the game on two more occasions before the Diplomats ended the half on a 4-0 run in the last 90 seconds to lead 30-26 at the break. Both offenses shot effectively from the field in the first half, as F&M shot 54.5% (12-of-22) and McDaniel converted 47.6% (10-of-21) of the time.

McDaniel rallied to open the second half, scoring nine unanswered across the opening four minutes to reclaim the lead at 35-30. A Grauslys three broke the run and set up a sequence of the teams trading scores. McDaniel pushed their lead up to seven points at 45-38 thanks to five straight points from Chuck Contee, who scored his 1,000th career point in the contest. Over two minutes, the Diplomats erased the deficit with nine consecutive points, including six points from Nowoswiat, to reclaim the lead at 47-45. 

McDaniel tied the game on a jumper, but Nowoswiat continued his reign with four more points, as F&M led 52-47 with 7:39 to play. Over the next few minutes, Parra and Nowswiat combined to outscore McDaniel 7-4 to maintain the gap with 4:30 to go. F&M continued to build the gap, using a 6-0 run to lead 65-52 with 80 seconds left, eventually winning 69-57. F&M kept turnovers modest, losing the ball ten times compared to 16 turnovers for McDaniel. The rebound battle was close, with F&M outrebounding the Green Terror 26-25.

F&M is back at home when they host Ursinus this Wednesday, February 5, at 7:00 p.m.