THE FACTS
Franklin & Marshall (19-6, 11-2 CC) 64, Gettysburg (19-6, 10-3 CC) 59
What: Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball game
When: Saturday, Feb. 22
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
After falling behind by one, Franklin & Marshall used an 8-2 burst to reassert a five-point edge with 3:06 to play and held off Gettysburg for a 64-59 win to claim the top seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference tournament.
THE LEADERS
•
Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) led the Bullets with 19 points, five rebounds and four assists.
FOR THE FOES
• Kevin Nowoswiat led the Diplomats with 32 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Baskets from Josh Parra and John Seidman gave Franklin & Marshall a 4-0 lead in the game's first 1:57. The advantage grew to 11-3 on five straight points from Kevin Nowoswiat with 15:17 showing. The lead remained at six before
Aidan Mess (Brookeville, Md./Mount St. Joseph) hit the second of two free throws with 10:55 remaining to spark a 9-2 run that eventually gave Gettysburg a 21-20 lead on a second-chance
Carl Schaller triple with 8:19 on the clock. The teams traded baskets over the rest of the half until a Seidman layup in the final five seconds gave the visitors a 30-28 edge at the break.
• Treys from Seidman and Vakaris Grauslys stretched the lead to eight in the first 2:18 of the second half. The lead grew as large as nine before five points from Schaller helped close the deficit to 38-36 with 12:23 to play. Four more from Schaller and a Stafford jumper on the break with his foot on the line made it a 43-42 deficit with 8:49 showing. Schaller then gave Gettysburg its first lead of the second half 35 seconds later. The teams traded baskets before – trailing 46-45 – Grauslys hit two free throws with 6:11 remaining to give the Diplomats the lead for good. Grauslys drove and scored to extend the lead to 53-48 with 3:06 to play before a
Nate Williams (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney) three-point cut the deficit to two at the other end. F&M pushed the lead out to seven a minute later but a Williams triple and jumper around two Nowoswiat free throws made it a four-point game with 37 ticks left. Williams then canned another trey to make it a 60-59 game but the Diplomats hit all four free throws in the final 15 seconds to seal the win.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg will be the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference and will host Dickinson in the first round on Tuesday. Game time will be determined on Monday.
•
Nate Williams finished with 13 points and five rebounds.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at home on Tuesday against Dickinson.
