Dictionary.com defines a diplomat as “one who uses skill and tact in dealing with others.” On this basketball night, it was Muhlenberg that

Freshman John DeFeo gave the Mules a big lift when Stewart got into foul trouble in the second half. He had three points, three rebounds and two assists.

displayed the skill to tactfully defeat the Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall, 82-70.

Junior Jeff Stewart scored 21 points, junior Chris Huber continued his hot shooting with 17 points, and junior Jimmie Riggins recorded his first career double-double to lead an all-around team effort that gave the Mules (7-5, 3-3) their second win in a row.

Franklin & Marshall (7-6, 2-4) opened up a 19-11 lead nine minutes into the game, but Muhlenberg got baskets from five different players, including a three-point play by Stewart, in an 11-0 run to go ahead for good.

“We came out a little slow today, but we kept ourselves in the game by not losing our composure,” said junior Christopher Strachan, who had a game-high five assists and tied a career high with nine points. “Earlier in the season we hurt ourselves by losing our composure when we fell behind early, but today we didn’t.”

Sharp passing and offensive rebounding led to easy scoring opportunities for the Mules, who shot 54.3 percent in the first half and 52.6 percent for the game. With the exception of three three-pointers by Huber, all of their first-half field goals came right around the basket.

Stewart shot 6-for-7 in the first half and led all scorers with 13 points at the break. He added five to his total in the first 75 seconds of the second half. Huber’s fourth three-pointer of the game, two minutes into the second half, gave Muhlenberg a 50-32 lead.

The Diplomats would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way. The Mules opened up a 22-point bulge (80-58) with 3:29 left before F&M closed the gap with three late three-pointers.

Riggins tied a career high with 11 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds, half of them off the offensive glass. Junior Tom Scott scored six points, two on a driving baseline dunk early in the second half, and added five rebounds.

The win was the second straight against Franklin & Marshall for Muhlenberg, which moved into a tie for third place in the Centennial Conference. “It’s big to defeat them,” said Strachan. “It shows we’ve come a long way from last year. Last year, when we beat them it was a giant shock, but this year we felt from the beginning that we could get by them.”

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