SWARTHMORE, Pa.—The top two teams in the Centennial Conference squared off on Saturday afternoon at Tarble Pavilion in a game which featured seven second-half lead changes. Swarthmore College Men's Basketball's bid to usurp the top-seeded Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats fell just short as the Garnet fell to the Diplomats by single digitis for the second time this year. F&M improved to 13-1 in Centennial Conference play with the 72-66 win while Swarthmore slipped to 10-4.
 
The Garnet overtook the Diplomats with 2:09 to play on a 3-pointer by Matt Brennan that sent the student section into a frenzy. Swarthmore's 64-62 lead slipped away on the next possession, however, as F&M's leading scorer, Brandon Federici, who dropped a game-high 27 points, hit three consecutive free throws. In the final two minutes, the Garnet struggled to execute and committed three turnovers. The Diplomats, on the other hand, went 7-for-8 from the line, including four more from Federici, to hold off the Garnet.
 
Four Garnet players scored double-digits on Saturday with Zack Yonda leading the way with 17 points. Yonda shot 6-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-6 from the line. Brennan added 15 points on a 5-for-12 game. Freshman Henry Cousineau scored 15 points as well, giving him at least 15 in back-to-back games. Cousineau is averaging 10.4 points per game over the last seven contests.  Forward Robbie Walsh notched another double-double with an even 10 points and 10 rebounds; he also denied three Diplomats' field goal attempts.
 
The Diplomats, in addition to getting 27 points out of Federici, had 21 points from Hunter Eggers. Combined, Federici and Eggers shot 15-for-26 from the floor (57.6 percent) and 7-for-10 from 3-point territory. The rest of the Diplomats were a combined 7-for-24 (29.1 percent) from the floor and 1-for-4 from three.
 
Swarthmore went 21-for-45 (46.7 percent) from the field and 6-for-20 (30 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
Swarthmore fell behind 7-0 to start the game and trailed by eight with 12:09 to play in the first. With 3:01 to go in the period, Cousineau drained a 3-pointer that brought Swarthmore within one. Two free throws from Zack Yonda gave Swarthmore a one-point lead, 28-27, going into halftime.
 
The Garnet scored on four consecutive possessions to start the second half, upping the lead to 37-31. F&M responded with three consecutive 3-pointers over the next two minutes to regain the lead.
 
Swarthmore, still in second place in the Centennial Conference, travels to Washington College on Wednesday at 7 p.m.