LANCASTER, Pa.- The fourth-seeded (RV) Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (22-5, 10-3 Centennial Conference) saw their 2026 Centennial Conference Tournament run come to a close in a 69-45 semifinal loss at first-seeded Gettysburg (17-9, 11-2 Centennial Conference) on Friday evening.

Steve Donahue led the Diplomats offense with 11 points, while Bryson Amos-Whitfield and Carter Lawrence each recorded eight points apiece from the bench. Kevin Nowoswiat led the team in both rebounds (10) and assists (4) but was kept to five points. 

The sides traded baskets through the first possession, with Gettysburg leading 3-2 over through the first minute of play. Over the next nine minutes, however, the Bullets went on a run that would prove key to their success, forcing five Diplomats turnovers and scoring 12 unanswered points for a 15-2 lead through the opening 9:30. Over that span, F&M went 0-of-8 from the field. 

Nowoswiat broke the run with a three to get back within ten points, and the sides traded baskets over the next five minutes to a 21-8 Bullets advantage with five minutes left. The Diplomats closed the deficit with a 7-2 run in the next three minutes, but Gettysburg closed out the half by scoring five unanswered points to lead by 12 points at the break, 27-15. Ten of F&M's 13 total turnovers came in the first 20 minutes, while the offense was kept to a 22.7% (5-of-22) field goal percentage. 

F&M opened the second half with the first four points via Bohdan Biekietov, closing within eight points before Gettysburg scored five points across their next two possessions. The sides traded baskets over the next several minutes, as F&M stayed within 13 points with 11:32 remaining. Back-to-back triples from Gettysburg extended their lead to 19, but the Diplomats countered with a 5-0 run, trailing 45-31 with eight minutes left. The Diplomats stayed at that margin with six minutes to go, but the Bullets went on a decisive 14-points run in a three-minute span to lead by 28 points with just three minutes to play. The Diplomats outscored the Bullets 7-3 in the remaining time with four points via Donahue. The Bullets' offense went 53.9% (14-of-26) from the field and 53.9% (7-of-13) on triples in the second half. 

In order to book back-to-back trips, F&M will now seek one of 21 available at-large bids into the NCAA Tournament, which will be determined by the NCAA Power Index (NPI). The Diplomats are well poised to claim one of these bids, entering the evening in 20th place in the ranking with many teams above them likely to make use of automatic bids into the tournament. The selection show will be streamed on NCAA.com on Monday, March 2, at 1:00 p.m. 

NPI as of 2/26/2026