The Baruch College Bearcats received a balanced scoring attack and scored 25 points off 21 turnovers by Franklin & Marshall College to record a 61-56 victory on Friday night at the Lancaster Rotary Tip-Off Tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Abraham Akanmu had a solid debut by leading the team with 13 points, five rebounds and two steals. The rest of the scoring came from five players notching at least six points in a well-rounded attack to defeat an opponent from the Centennial Conference.

The Bearcats struggled early and found themselves trailing, 21-10, midway through the first half, but they finished strong to take a 30-27 lead into halftime as the Diplomats struggled against the defense.

The Diplomats, playing on their home court in their annual tournament, would later recapture the lead and went ahead by seven points (43-36) to excite the home crowd.

The Bearcats never relented on defense and saw a number of baskets by seven different players to chip away at the deficit and take the lead down the stretch.

A jumper by Raymond De La Cruz gave the team a 51-49 lead and a three-point play by Akanmu with two minutes left helped sealed the confidence-boosting victory against one of the more respectable names in Division III basketball.

The Bearcats will play #18-ranked Middlebury College from the powerful NESCAC Conference tomorrow at 4:00 pm in the championship.