The Muhlenberg men's basketball team overcame big deficits at the start of both halves before ultimately falling to Franklin & Marshall, 77-73.

The game was played in front of an energetic crowd of 500 elementary students from the Allentown School District, who were guests of Muhlenberg thanks to a partnership with former Mule point guard Toomey Anderson '03. 

The loss spoiled a tremendous effort by junior Giovanni Rubino, who scored a career-high 31 points. Graduate student Dan Gaines added 22, and junior Brandon Goldberg pulled down a career-high 12 rebounds to go along with 7 points. 

F&M (8-3, 3-1) quieted the crowd - somewhat - by scoring the first 11 points of the game, but the Mules (7-4, 2-2) gradually crept back. Sparking the comeback was sophomore Luke Gordos, who made steals on three consecutive Diplomat possessions, leading to one layup by sophomore Jayson Williams-Johnson and two by Gaines in a span of less than a minute.

A three-pointer by sophomore Charlie Gillikin capped the 9-0 run and evened the game at 21-all.

The Diplomats regained their momentum and took a seven-point lead into the break, then stretched their margin to 12 early in the second half. Again Muhlenberg came back, sparked by Rubino, who netted the last nine points in an 11-0 run that gave the Mules their first lead of the game, 43-42 with 12:16 to play.

Muhlenberg took its biggest lead at 52-48 on another three by Gillikin (pictured above). A pair of free throws by Rubino gave the Mules their last lead, at 66-65 with 3:15 to play, but F&M reeled off the next nine points and made enough free throws in the final minute to hold on for the win.

In addition to his 9 points, Gillikin finished with 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Gordos finished with 6 assists to go along with his 3 steals.