LANCASTER, Pa.- The No. 25 Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (16-2, 5-1 Centennial Conference) continued their winning form with Wednesday's 79-61 win over visiting Washington College (10-8, 0-6 Centennial Conference).

Kevin Nowoswiat notched a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double with four assists. Vakaris Grauslys totaled 13 points, a season-high six steals, and a team-best five assists. Steve Donahue recorded 15 points, while Franklin Jones recorded seven rebounds, two blocked shots, three steals, and four points. Bohdan Biekietov had seven points, while Bryson Amos-Whitfield and Asad Syed each totaled eight points from the bench. 

Both teams were successful on their first two possessions, as the sides were tied at 4-4 before back-to-back F&M layups gave the hosts an early 8-4 advantage. The Diplomats held a 13-7 lead when the Shoremen rallied back with a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to claim their first and only of the night at 17-15 through the opening eight minutes. F&M returned from a timeout with a seven-point run that featured a three and layup from Grauslys, putting the hosts back ahead, 22-17. 

While Washington got back within a point following this, the Diplomats quickly swung momentum back their way on a 6-0 run that featured a pair of dunks. The first came via a Jones steal followed by Grauslys providing the assist to Jones an alley-oop dunk. Seconds later, Biekietov forced a steal and would deliver a second dunk inside of 30 seconds via a Nowoswiat pass. F&M led 28-21 at this point, and they maintained this advantage to enter the halftime break with a 34-28 lead following a buzzer-beater three for Washington. F&M drew 24 rebounds against just ten from their opponents through the first 20 minutes. The Diplomats conceded just two fouls in the first half, not allowing the Shoremen to the charity stripe. Washington College was slightly more efficient in first-half shooting, posting a 52.2% (12-of-23) field goal percentage against 45.1% (14-of-31) from the Diplomats.

After a back-and-forth start to the half, the Diplomats' lead soon reached double-figures thanks to an eight-point run that featured three points apiece from Nowoswiat and Amos-Whitfield. This gave the hosts a 46-30 lead through the first 4:45, and the Shoremen were unable to get back to a single-digit deficit in the remaining time. F&M's lead reached a game-high of 19 at 77-58 before the contest concluded at 79-61. F&M contained Washington College to a 31.0% (9-of-29) field goal percentage and 7.7% (1-of-13) three-point percentage in the second half while shooting 66.7% (18-of-27) from the field and 42.9% (3-of-7) on threes.

While both sides forced 20-plus turnovers, F&M drew a clear advantage off the glass, outrebounding Washington College, 40-24. 50 of F&M's points were created in the paint, while they scored 25 points via turnovers against 22 from the Shoremen. 

The Diplomats are back at the Mayser Center to host McDaniel on Saturday, January 31, at 3:00 p.m.