LANCASTER, PA -- Center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) flirted with a quadruple-double with 23 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and six blocked shots as the #15 ranked Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team defeated Johns Hopkins University 81-60 in Centennial Conference action.
The win improves F&M to 15-2 on the year, 10-0 in Centennial Conference play, as the win gives the Diplomats a three game lead over Hopkins (11-5, 7-3 CC) in the Centennial Conference regular season title race.
Overall, the game belonged to Juskin as the postman delivered from the floor hitting nine-of-16 field goal attempts and five-of-six from the free-throw line.
In the opening minutes of the game, he take F&M to an early lead as he hit a lay-up and back-to-back turnaround jumpers to push the Diplomats ahead 6-2 with 17:01 left in the first half before Hopkins' Matt Righter drained a three-pointer and Eric Toback knocked down a lay-up to stake the Blue Jays to a 7-6 margin one minute later.
However, forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) put his team out-in-front to stay by connecting on a lay-up before guard Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) arched in a "three" for an 11-7 lead with 14:34 left in the half.
Leading 16-11 following a lay-up and foul shot by Lynch, the Diplomats saw their lead dwindle to 16-14 following a three-pointer by Kevin Marquez at the 11:02 mark. However, guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) ignited an 8-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers from long range. Guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) capped the run with a floating jumper from inside the arc for a 24-16 F&M lead with 8:27 left until halftime.
Hopkins fired back as TJ Valerio fired in a three-pointer and Marquez hit a lay-up to slice the Diplomats' lead to 24-21 before the Diplomats' defense sparked a run to end the half.
Holding a three-point lead with four minutes left in the first half, F&M's Searles slapped a pass away and rushed down the court before laying-in a shot for a 26-21 margin. Again, Hopkins responded as Valerio dropped a three-pointer to cut the lead to 26-24 with 1:29 until intermission. However, the points marked the last of the half for the 'Jays as Lynch and Wright finished lay-ups for a 30-24 F&M lead at halftime.
In the second half, Righter fired home a "three" before Juskin knocked down a turnaround jumper to push the lead back to five at 32-27. Danny Nawrocki chipped in a lay-up for move the margin to three at 32-27 before Juskin and reserve forward Danny Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock), subbing for his twin brother Bobby who left the game after picking up two offensive fouls on consecutive possessions, tallied lay-ups for a 36-29 lead with 15:08 left on the clock.
Frank Mason connected on a lay-up to slice the lead back to five at 14:48, but the points fueled the Diplomats' offense on a 10-0 run over the next 95 seconds as Smith connected on three shots and a free-throw and Juskin added a field goal and a foul-shot to put the game away at 46-31.
Leading by as many as 26 over the final 13 minutes of play, the Diplomats coasted to the victory as Franklin & Marshall outscored Hopkins 35-29 to improve to 46-26 all-time against the Blue Jays since their first meeting in 1947.
For F&M, Searles and Smith each finished with 16 points to join Juskin in double-digits, while Bobby Lynch saw a 16-game double-digit scoring streak come to an end as he finished with nine points and seven rebounds in limited minutes due to foul trouble in the second half.
The key to the game for F&M was turnovers as the Diplomats' defense forced 19 Hopkins' miscues which Franklin & Marshall cashed in for 22 points while committing nine turnovers of their own which the Jays converted for 12 points.
For Hopkins, no players reached double-figures in scoring as Mason, Righter and Nawrocki led the team with eight points, while Jeff Thompson and Marc Leone chipped in seven points. Valerio led the team in rebounds with six while adding six points in the loss.
Historically, the victory raises F&M head coach Glenn Robinson's career record to 663-233 as he is now four victories shy of surpassing former Illinois Wesleyan coach Dennie Bridges (666 wins) for the all-time Division III wins record. Further, the win moves Robinson within two games of surpassing legendary UCLA coach John Wooden (664-162) for 25th on the all-time NCAA wins list.
Franklin & Marshall will continue the season on January 31 at Swarthmore College. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m.
