CARLISLE, Pa.- After heading into the halftime break tied at 31-apiece, the Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (18-6, 10-2 Centennial) outscored Dickinson (9-15, 4-8 Centennial) 38-22 in the second half of Wednesday's 69-53 victory. The win marks the team's ninth-consecutive victory.

Vakaris Grauslys led the team with 18 points, three steals and three assists, shooting 5-of-6 (62.5%) on field goals, 2-of-5 (40.0%) on threes, and 6-of-8 (75.0%) on free throws. John Seidman scored 17 points with three steals, going 6-of-8 (75.0%) on field goals and 2-of-4 (50.0%) on threes. Kevin Nowoswiat led the team with four steals and chipped in nine points and three assists. Sebastien Charles shot 3-of-6 (50.0%) beyond the arc, totaling nine point from the bench with six rebounds. 

The Diplomats scored the first five points of the game via a Grauslys three and Seidman layup, and Dickinson used a timeout within two minutes. Returning from the pause, they scored four-straight points, although a three from Charles stopped the run, giving F&M a 8-4 lead through 5:30. The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes until the Diplomats scored four points on a single possession; Steve Donahue hit his first of two free throws, and Charles rebounded his missed second shot and he eventually got the ball at the left wing, delivering a three to lead 14-8. 

The Diplomats maintained the pace over the next few minutes. With 6:30 left, the Red Devils used a quick five-point run to close within a point, down 22-21. After trading baskets for a couple of minutes, Dickinson claimed their first lead of the night on a three, leading 27-26 with 2:45 to go. They held a narrow lead entering the final seconds, but Asad Syed's three with 32 seconds to go put the Diplomats back ahead for a moment, as Dickinson converted a driving layup at the buzzer for a 31-31 deadlock through 20 minutes.  

Like Saturday's win over Johns Hopkins, the Diplomats used a big run to open the second half before maintaining the lead to the finish of the contest. The Diplomats scored the first 12 points of the half through the first 5:30, including seven points from Nowoswiat, to lead 43-31. The Red Devils stalled the run and got back into the game with a 10-3 run over the next three minutes, not missing on their field goals during this stretch to trail 46-41 with 11 minutes left. They maintained this gap over the next few minutes, as F&M led 52-48 with eight minutes to go.

At this point, F&M pushed their lead back to ten via a Charles three and three Grauslys free throws after being fouled on a three attempt to lead 58-48. The Diplomats held the ten-point advantage entering the final four minutes, and they went on to outscore Dickinson 9-3 in the remaining time with six points from Grauslys and a Dylan Cormac three. F&M converted 11-of-22 (50.0%) field goals and 5-of-11 threes (45.5%) in the second half while outrebounding their opponents 19-14.

The Diplomats wrap up the regular season at Gettysburg on Saturday, February 22, and 3:00 p.m. The teams enter level at the top of the conference standings, and F&M have a chance to take the regular season crown and guarantee home-court advantage for the duration of F&M's Centennial Conference Tournament run.