The Dickinson men’s basketball team lost to archrival Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday night, Feb. 14 in Lancaster but rebounded to close out their regular season with a 72-70 comeback win over hosts Washington College on Saturday, Feb. 17, securing a spot in the Centennial Conference playoffs.

The Diplomats got off to a blazing start, taking a 10-2 lead in the first quarter before Bryce Allen ’20 scored seven points in quick succession to cut the deficit to just one.

The two teams traded scores until the Diplomats put together a 14-0 run to take a 28-14 advantage with under four minutes left until halftime. Both teams scored four more points before the break to make the halftime score 32-18. Allen was the Red Devils’ top performer in the first half, tallying nine points and four rebounds, with Moses Romocki in tow with five boards.

Justus Melton ’18 got the Red Devils going in the early stages of the second period, scoring multiple times to reduce F&M’s lead to 11, but the Diplomats went on another run to stretch their advantage to 43-27. F&M extended the margin even further, 57-36, before Chris McNeal ’18, Melton and Mike Hinckley ’19 ignited Dickinson’s offense to bring the Red Devils back to within 10. Jon Stenger ’18 and Hinckley followed up with more scores, reducing the Diplomats’ lead to 59-57, with just 1:39 left to play. F&M responded with scores of their own though, holding on for a 64-57 victory.

Melton led the Red Devils on the evening with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a pair of steals while Hinckley added 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Allen scored 11 points, grabbed four rebounds and handed out two assists.

Washington jumped out to an early advantage, pulling in front 13-3 and continued to build their lead up to 19-8 as the game approached the halfway point of the first period. The Red Devils answered with a 9-0 run, capped off by a three pointer from Allen, to cut the deficit to 19-17, with under nine minutes to play in the half.

The Shoremen answered with a run of their own to go up 32-20, but Melton and Romocki led a Dickinson run to reduce the lead to 37-31 at halftime.

Washington rebuilt their lead to double digits midway through the second period but the Red Devils answered yet again to pull within striking range with 8:57 left, 53-51. Romocki and Hinckley helped Dickinson keep pace with the Shoremen, bringing the score to 64-62 with 4:14 remaining in regulation. The Red Devils took a 70-66 lead with under two minutes left but the hosts tied the game back up with five seconds on the clock. Hinckley stole the ball on the ensuing Washington possession and fed the ball to McNeal who hit the game-winner at the buzzer.

Romocki shined 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocks while Melton netted 17 points. Allen and Hinckley put up 14 and 10, respectively as Allen recorded six rebounds and six assists, and Hinckley tallied four assists.

The Red Devils’ regular season record finishes at 15-10 overall and 11-7 in the Centennial Conference.