LANCASTER, Pa. – A 7-0 run for No. 14 Franklin & Marshall turned a 29-19 advantage into a 17-point edge, catapulting the hosts to a 63-46 Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball victory over McDaniel on Saturday.

Cullen Murray-Kemp (Trappe, Md./Easton) led the Green Terror (3-4, 1-2 CC) with 13 points while freshman Andrew Merlo (Rehoboth, Del./Cape Henlopen) recorded eight points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals in his first collegiate start.

Georgio Milligan led the Diplomats (7-0, 3-0 CC) with 18 points while Jon Salandra and Brandon Beckford had 12 and 11 points, respectively.

After Franklin & Marshall jumped out to an 11-2 lead with 12:49 to play in the opening half, Murray-Kemp hit a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 counter that included a triple from James Cranwell (Brick, N.J./Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) and a second Murray-Kemp trey, knotting the game with 8:40 showing.

Beckford scored at each end of an 18-6 stretch that put the hosts on top 29-17 at the break. Beckford started the run with two free throws and capped it with a 3-pointer.

Marcus Dyson (Scotch Plains, N.J./Union Catholic) closed the deficit to 10 on the team's first possession of the second half but the Diplomats reeled off the game's next seven points to stretch the 17.

A Phillip Perry (Crownsville, Md./Annapolis Area Christian) steal-and-layup closed the deficit to 12 with 6:05 to play but that's as close as McDaniel would get over the final 16:38 of the game.

McDaniel returns to action at Washington (Md.) on Saturday. Game time is 4 p.m.

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