SWARTHMORE, Pa.- The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (15-6, 7-2 Centennial) secured a statement win over Swarthmore (14-7, 6-3 Centennial) on Saturday, leading by 26 points at the halftime break before eventually winning 80-48 in Swarthmore.

Four Diplomats got into double figures, led by 17 points from Kevin Nowoswiat. He converted all three of his three-point attempts while converting 8-of-9 (88.9%) on free throws. Steve Donahue posted a career-high 15 points from the bench, shooting 6-of-9 (66.7%) on field goals. Vakaris Grauslys posted 15 points, going perfect on his seven free-throw attempts while leading the team in assists (6) and steals (3). John Seidman had 13 points, shooting 6-of-8 (75.0%) on field goals. He'll enter Wednesday's game against Muhlenberg eight points from 1,000 for his career.

The Diplomats put together a complete performance in the first half, outscoring their opponents 50-24. F&M got there by shooting 58.6% on field goals 38.5% on threes, and 11-of-13 on free throws, keeping turnovers to four, and generating 14 points from turnovers. The opening 9:30 were key to the sizable gap at the halftime break, as the Diplomats broke ahead 21-5. Grauslys opened the game with a pair of driving layups, while the Garnet countered with a layup and three to claim the lead at 5-4. Their lead lasted mere seconds, as Grauslys again scored two points to reclaim the lead for good. His layup kicked off a 17-point run over six minutes that saw seven different Diplomats score, while the defense forced five Swarthmore turnovers.

The Garnet began to keep pace, finding themselves down 15 points with 4:30 left. At this point, F&M went on another big run started by back-to-back threes from Sam Davison and Nowoswiat. Swarthmore broke the run with a three before F&M posted seven straight, including five consecutive points from Grauslys. At this point, the Diplomats led 46-21, and they eventually went into the break ahead 50-24. Grauslys and Donahue each totaled 11 points in the first half alone.

F&M went on to outscore Swarthmore 30-24 in the second half, led by eight points from Nowoswiat and seven points from Seidman. The Diplomats again kept turnovers low, committing just five while forcing 11 Garnet giveaways. They ended the game with just nine total turnovers against 20 from Swarthmore, totaling 26 points from these turnovers. 

The Diplomats play the first of two home games this week when they host Muhlenberg on Wednesday, February 12, at 8:00 p.m.