LANCASTER, Pa. – Gilberto Benz scored a career-high 17 points, but Franklin & Marshall withstood a furious Albright comeback to defeat the Lions 74-70 on Saturday in Mayser Gymnasium.

Albright trailed by 18 points in the first half and by 17 points midway through the second half before rallying to within one possession of the lead late in the game.

Benz finished the game 7-of-16 from the floor, including 2-of-4 from the three-point line, to surpass his previous career-best total of 12 points in Albright's victory over Penn State-Berks.

Benz led four players in double figures in scoring as DeJuan Smith scored 15 points, Josh Marquez had 13 points and Evan Ward scored 11 points.

Morgan Lee scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Diplomats. Hunter Eggers also reached double figures with 10 points.

Franklin & Marshall, which remained undefeated on the season at 9-0, jumped out to a big first-half lead against the Lions.

After a pair of free throws by Ward cut the Franklin & Marshall lead to 15-11 with 13:18 to play in the first half the Diplomats responded with a 7-0 run that increased the Diplomats lead to 22-11 with 10:09 to play in the opening half.

Following a layup by Jalen Harris, Franklin & Marshall ripped off a 14-3 run that gave the Diplomats their largest lead of the game at 44-26 with 1:12 left in the first half.

A three-point play by Harris cut the Diplomats lead to 44-29 at the intermission.

Albright, which dropped to 4-4 overall on the year, used an 8-3 run to climb to within 53-43 with 14:08 to play in the game.

Franklin & Marshall responded with a 10-3 run that upped the Diplomats lead to 63-46 with 10:47 to play in the second half.

Six points from Benz and three from Smith helped Albright close the gap to 65-55 with 5:47 to play.

A layup by Lee increased the lead to 12 points, but a three-point play by Ward, a free throw by Marquez and a basket by Smith cut the F&M lead to 67-61 with 4:32 left in the game.

Following a layup by Brandon Federici , Albright responded with a 5-0 run capped by a free throw by Thomas Vazzana that brought the Lions to within 69-66 with 2:37 to play.

The Lions had a chance to tie the game on their next possession, but missed a three-point attempt.

Stefan Toskovic made two free throws for the Diplomats, but Marquez answered with a jumper with 1:20 to play that cut the lead to 71-68.

Following an F&M miss, the Lions once again had a chance to tie the contest but misfired on the attempt.

Federici made two free throws to increase the F&M lead to 73-68 with 20 seconds left in the game, but Marquez converted a layup with 13.7 seconds to play that cut the lead to 73-70.

Cedric Moune made one of two free throws with seven seconds left in regulation to seal the victory for the Diplomats.

Albright will next host the Albright Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29-30 in the Bollman Center. The Lions will face Hartwick at 4 p.m. on Dec. 29 following the Buena Vista-Delaware Valley game at 2 p.m.

The consolation game will be played on Dec. 30 at 2 p.m. and the championship game will follow at 4 p.m.