LANCASTER, Pa. – J.C. McGrath knocked down a jumper with 18 seconds left to complete a big second-half comeback and send Franklin & Marshall College past visiting Gettysburg College 58-54 in Centennial Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night in the Mayser Center.
 
Gettysburg (4-16, 3-10 CC) led by as many as 14 in the second half only to see Franklin & Marshall (12-8, 6-7 CC) cap its comeback with a 16-4 run to end the game.
 
Junior Nick Antolini (Babylon, N.Y./Babylon) posted his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds and added five assists. Senior Alec Warren (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) knocked down four three-pointers on the way to 14 points, while sophomore Avery Close (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville) posted 14 points and eight rebounds.
 
McGrath posted 11 of his game-high 17 points in the second half and grabbed 13 rebounds. Matt Redhead was the only other Diplomat in double-figures with 12 points to go along with seven rebounds.
 
The hosts jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the game, but the tide turned quickly in favor of the Orange and Blue with an eight-point run. Warren gave the Bullets their first double-figure lead at 23-13 with 9:02 remaining in the first half and the margin grew to 14 (29-15) on another deep shot by the senior with 6:49 to go.
 
The Diplomats tallied the final five points of the half to trim the deficit to eight (32-24) at the break.
 
Gettysburg opened the final stanza with three consecutive buckets with the last by junior Danny Duffey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) giving the team a 38-24 lead.
 
Franklin & Marshall mounted a 16-6 run over the next eight minutes. Justin Kupa and Redhead accounted for nine of the tallies as the score stood at 44-40 with 8:46 left.
 
The Bullets pushed the advantage back to eight twice in the coming minutes, the last coming on a lay-up by junior Nick Lord (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) that made it 50-42 with 5:28 to go.
 
Franklin & Marshall quickly closed the gap with a lay-p by Redhead pulling the Diplomats to one (52-51) with under two minutes remaining. After a pair of free throws by Close, McGrath converted an old-fashioned three-point play to knot the game 54-54 with 90 seconds on the clock. Following a miss by the Bullets, McGrath converted the game-winner off a feed by Solomon Mathis. Antolini missed a lay-up with three seconds left and Mathis iced the game with a pair of free throw shots.
 
Gettysburg finished 22-of-56 (39.3 percent) from the field, while Franklin & Marshall finished 21-of-61 (34.4 percent).
 
The Bullets visit No. 16 Swarthmore College (17-3, 10-3 CC) Saturday at 3 p.m.