LANCASTER, Pa.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (20-6, 11-2 CC) stalled out a late charge from Ursinus to win their Centennial Conference Semifinal contest, 75-64, on Friday night. With the win, the Diplomats earn a Centennial Conference Tournament Championship spot for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

Kevin Nowoswiat recorded 20 points, shooting 12-of-13 (92.3%) from the charity stripe and 4-of-9 (44.4%) on field goals with seven rebounds and a team-best two steals. John Seidman recorded 18 points, shooting 7-of-12 (58.3%) on field goals with eight rebounds. Vakaris Grauslys had a 13-point night with two threes. He'll enter Sunday's game 17 points from 1,000 for his career. Sebastien Charles recorded eight rebounds from the bench with seven points. 

F&M comfortably outpaced Ursinus 43-21 in the first half, outrebounding the Bears 24-12, shooting 17-of-30 (56.7%) on field goals while keeping Ursinus to 6-of-23 (26.1%) from the field. They also shot 7-of-12 (58.3%) beyond the arc. Josh Parra kicked off the game with six points over the first three minutes, while the Diplomats' defense kept Ursinus off the board in their first three possessions. The Bears closed the gap with a quick 7-2 run to trail 8-7 through six minutes. From there, the Diplomats posted ten unanswered points including threes from Charles and Dylan Cormac for an 18-7 advantage. 

The teams traded buckets over the next few minutes, as Ursinus kept the deficit around ten points at 23-14 with 7:45 remaining in the first half. Over the next three minutes, however, F&M outscored their opponents 12-1, reaching a 20-point lead with 4:24 to go on a Grauslys three. They eventually went into the halftime break ahead 43-21, capping the half with a three from Seidman.

Ursinus slowly but consistently worked their way back into the game in the second half. The teams traded buckets through the first five minutes, but the Bears found momentum with a 10-3 run over the next four minutes for a 53-41 deficit. The teams traded buckets over the next phase, but seven Ursinus points in a two minute spell, including four Diplomats turnovers, shrunk the lead to just seven points entering the final 5:31. 

Trailing by eight points with three minutes left, the Bears sent the ball from the paint to the arc for an open three, reducing the lead to 63-58. Both teams scored a layup apiece over the next minute to keep the gap the same. 

Following an offensive foul charged on Grauslys, a Ursinus three attempt hit off the iron and was claimed by Grauslys at the top of the arc, and he took the ball to the other end for uncontested layup for a seven-point lead with a minute left. The Diplomats rebounded the next missed shot from Ursinus and drew a foul, and two Nowoswiat free throws gave F&M a 69-60 lead with 0:50 seconds left. F&M maintained this lead to the end of the contest.

The Diplomats ended the game 24-of-48 (50.0%) on field goals, and the win is the 11th straight for the program.

The Diplomats will host second seed Johns Hopkins on Sunday, March 2, at 2:00 p.m. The teams split results in the regular season series, with each team winning their home contest. In the most recent game, the Diplomats earned a 66-56 victory that snapped a 14-game losing streak in the series.