CHESTERTOWN, Md. --  Junior forward Dave Knox and sophomore guard James Drury scored 19 points each and freshman guard Joey Shelton made what would prove to be the difference-making free throws as the host Washington College men's basketball team upset 16th-ranked Franklin & Marshall, 81-80, in overtime in a Centennial Conference game this afternoon inside Cain Athletic Center. 

The Shoremen (3-18 overall, 3-11 Centennial) led the entire first half, building an advantage as large as 12 points before taking a 37-32 lead into the intermission thanks to a Drury three-pointer with six seconds on the clock. 

Another Drury three-pointer with 10:00 left in the second half gave Washington a 59-54 advantage before the Diplomats (18-4, 11-4) scored the next eight points, taking their first lead of the game on a Brandon Federici jumper with 9:20 to go and building a 62-59 lead on a lay-up by Federici with 8:36 on the clock. A three-pointer by senior guard John Weston with 5:53 left and a lay-up by Shelton with 5:29 to go put the Shoremen back in front, 65-64.

Neither team would score again until F&M mounted a 6-0 spurt as Jared Wright made a pair of free throws with 3:32 left, Cedric Moune converted a lay-up with 2:51 to play, and Federici scored on a lay-up with 2:11 left to give the Diplomats a 70-65 advantage.

Knox hit a three-pointer with 1:40 left to trim the margin to two points and then made one of two free throws with 1:03 to go to cut the lead to 70-69 with 1:03 left. Knox's miss came on his second free throw, but senior forward Sean Flanigan collected the offensive board and the Shoremen called timeout with exactly one minute left in regulation. Drury missed a jumper with 35 seconds remaining and Knox got the offensive rebound, but had the ball stolen away by Wright who was fouled by Knox with 32 seconds left. Wright made his first free throw to push the lead to 71-69, but missed his second as Knox got the rebound.

After the Shoremen brought the ball up the court, head coach Rob Nugent called timeout with 21 seconds remaining. Junior forward Pat Morgan missed a corner three-pointer with 13 seconds remaining, but Drury got the offensive board and was fouled. Drury made both free throws to tie the game at 71-71 with nine seconds left and a potential game-winning jumper by Federici went off the rim as time expired and the game headed to overtime.

Shelton opened the overtime with a lay-up with 4:33 to go, but Moune made two free throws 28 seconds later and the game was tied at 73-73. The Diplomats took their final lead of the game when Wright made the first of two free throws with 3:39 left, but he missed the second and Knox collected the rebound. Flanigan made two fee throws with 3:20 to go to put the Shoremen in the lead for good a Knox lay-up with 2:38 left gave them a 77-74 cushion.

Moune made a lay-up for F&M 22 seconds later, but Drury was fouled on a put-back attempt of a missed three-pointer by Knox and made both free throws to give Washington a 79-76 advantage with 1:50 to play. After both teams came up empty on the ensuing possessions, Federici scored on a lay-up with 31 seconds to go to trim the margin to one at 79-78. 

F&M was unable to foul the Shoremen on the next possession until just 17 seconds remained as Lionel Owona fouled Shelton to put him at the line. Shelton made both free throws to push the lead back to three at 81-78. The Diplomats ran multiple for screens for Federici on the next possession, but the Shoremen switched on each of them and he could not find a clean look. Instead, he drove to the basket and scored a lay-up with five-tenths of a second remaining to cut the lead to 81-80. Following an F&M time-out, Drury caught the ensuing inbound pass and evaded the Diplomat defenders as the clock quickly expired.

Knox pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds to go along with his 19 points for his seventh double-double of the season. Drury added eight rebounds, five of them offensive, to his 19 points. Weston and freshman guard Tas Dixon chipped in 10 points a piece, while Morgan and Shelton each scored eight. Morgan also swiped a game-best four steals. 

Federici led all players with 26 points in the loss for F&M. Moune added 21 points, eight rebounds, and a game-best four blocks, while Wright had 11 points and a game-high eight assists for the Diplomats. Morgan Lee chipped in nine points and seven boards in the loss.

F&M shot 50% from the field to Washington's 43% in the game and committed 10 fewer turnovers - 15 to 25. The Shoremen shot 79% on 34 free-throw attempts and 40% on 20 three-point attempts, while the Diplomats were 57% on 23 attempts and 33% on 15 attempts, respectively. The Shoremen also out-rebounded the taller Diplomats, 40-32, overall and 17-13 on the offensive end. 

The win for the Shoremen was their fifth over a ranked opponent in the last seven years. Four of those wins have come against the Diplomats in the past six seasons. 

The Shoremen return to action Wednesday with an 8:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game at Haverford.