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Diplomats Top Hopkins
LANCASTER, Pa. - Anthony Brooks registered a game-high 17 points, making it his sixth straight double-figure scoring game to lead 21st-ranked Franklin & Marshall to a 71-60 win over Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night.
The win marks the third time this season the Diplomats (18-2, 11-2 CC) have swept a conference team and the seventh time they have held an opponent to 60 points or less to remain at the top of the CC standings.
Danny Selig recorded 16 points and nine rebounds, while James McNally grabbed a game-high 11 boards.
Three players posted double figures for the Blue Jays (11-9, 6-7 CC) led by Pat O'Connell with 13 points and five rebounds. Andrew Farber-Miller tallied 12 points and Mike Henrici chipped in 10.
F&M let go of its first half lead for a brief moment in the beginning of the second stanza after a Hopkins 7-1 run that gave them a 35-34 edge.
From there, the Diplomats went on a 17-5 run for their first double-digit lead. Clay Scovill started it off with a layup and made the steal to set up Brooks' fast-break bucket. Georgio Milligan made it 3-for-3 for F&M with a jumper to make it 40-35.
The Diplomats went 3-for-4 from the field over the next two minutes, before Selig tallied consecutive layups for a 53-42 lead with 9:11 left to play. F&M relied on free throws in the final five minutes to stay in the lead and collect its fifth straight win.
In the first half, there were eight lead changes with the visitors taking a five-point advantage at 18-13 with 7:46 on the clock. Scovill completed the three-point play and Steve Tolliver followed that with a jumper to knot the game at 18-all.
The teams exchanged the lead one more time, before Tolliver recorded the jumper and the free throw and Brooks made the layup off the inbounds pass with time expiring for a 31-28 halftime edge.
The Diplomats return to action on Saturday against Washington. Game time is 4 p.m.
