Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall made 8-of-10 free throws inside the final two minutes and the 15th-ranked Diplomats pulled away from Gettysburg to win 70-62 Wednesday evening inside the Mayser Center in a rematch of the last two Centennial Conference championship games.

Senior center Andrew Powers led Gettysburg (4-3, 2-2 CC) with a game-high 20 points in an extremely tight contest that featured 15 ties and 14 lead changes. Freshman guard Stephen Poarch added 13 points while sophomore forward Alex Zurn had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Four of F&M's five starters scored in double figures, with junior guard Georgio Milligan and sophomore guard Brandon Beckford posting 16 points apiece for the Diplomats (6-1, 3-0 CC). Senior forward James McNally garnered 11 points and six rebounds while senior forward Mike Baker had 10 points, seven rebounds, and four steals.

Gettysburg shot 50.0 percent from the field but committed 17 turnovers.

The Bullets executed their offense well in the early going, scoring their first four buckets off lay-ups or dunks. Sophomore guard Derek Brooks, making his first collegiate start, grabbed a rebound and zipped a full-court pass to Powers, who dropped in a lay-up to put the Bullets up 8-7, prompting an F&M timeout with 14:31 on the clock.

A 7-2 spurt put Gettysburg up 19-15 when Poarch drained a deep 3-pointer from the left corner. However, the Diplomats came back with seven unanswered points to go up 22-19 with 5:28 left following a McNally jumper.

Senior forward Kevin Kennedy ended a 4:50 Bullet scoring drought when he splashed in a trey off a kick-out from junior forward Tim Lang to tie it at 22-22 with 4:28 showing. Poarch put Gettysburg back in front (28-27) with a pull-up jumper at the 1:36 mark, and back-to-back Powers baskets made it 32-28 with 23 ticks showing. A Hayk Gyokchyan lay-up three seconds before the buzzer pulled the Diplomats to within 32-30 at the half.

Powers led all players with 10 points in the opening half, which had five ties and seven lead changes, while Zurn had six points and four rebounds.

The second half was just as close as the opening stanza, as there were 10 ties and seven lead changes over the final 20 minutes. F&M seized an early lead after scoring the first four points of the period, but the Bullets went back in front on three different occasions.

Zurn gave Gettysburg a three-point advantage when he made 1-of-2 foul shots with 16:26 remaining, and he gave the Orange & Blue its final lead of the night with 8:01 on the clock on a highlight reel series of events. Zurn picked off a pass in the backcourt and took it coast to coast before soaring over a defender and throwing down a dunk while getting fouled. He completed the three-point play to make it 47-46, and Powers followed up with a lay-up to push the visitors lead back to three with 7:26 left.

It was still a three-point lead (51-48) for Gettysburg after sophomore forward Ben Constable dropped in a fastbreak lay-up off a nice dish from Powers with 6:12 left, but Milligan answered with a 3-pointer to tie it, and the Dips would not trail again. A Powers hook shot in the lane tied it at 55-55 with 3:10 to go, but a Baker steal, lay-up, and free throw kicked off a 10-2 F&M run and gave the hosts the lead for good.

Gettysburg trailed 65-60 after a Zurn tip-in after a 1-for-2 trip at the line by sophomore center Christian Bors, but Beckford went 1-for-2 at the line before Baker put the game away when he converted a lay-up off an inbound with 11 seconds to go.

The Bullets play their final game of the semester on Saturday, when they visit Catholic University in a non-conference tilt starting at 4 p.m.