ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa.—Austin Finarelli led the Elizabethtown men's basketball team with a career-high 38 points to defeat Franklin & Marshall, 86-80.

Finarelli went 11-17 in field goals and 3-5 in three-pointers. Reese Ziegler totaled 11 points while grabbing four rebounds. EJ Finney and Rance Russo each totaled ten points.

Elizabethtown and Franklin & Marshall kept the opening ten minutes close as Etown led by just two points. After trading free throws for several minutes, Austin Finarelli sunk a three, giving Etown a 28-20 lead. Just a minute later the Diplomats came back within two following a jumper. Ziegler and Finarelli brought back Etown's lead to four points. After more back-n-forth, Ziegler dropped in a three before
Malik Hudges added a layup ending the half, 41-39.

The fouls continued to fly in the second half before Finarelli extended the Blue Jays lead to 51-41. F&M started to chip away at Etown's lead after a three-pointer to trail by four. At the 14-minute mark, Anthony Lilly added a three to keep the Blue Jays ahead, 59-52. Finarelli sunk his third and final three-pointer of the night minutes later to extend the Blue Jays lead by 11-points. In the final eight minutes, Elizabethtown would lead as much as 13 which became too much for the Diplomats as the Blue Jays came out on top, 86-80.

Elizabethtown returns home this Saturday, November 16 at 4 pm to host Messiah.