BALTIMORE, MD -- Franklin & Marshall center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) scored 21 points and point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) added 13 markers as the 11th-ranked Diplomats defeated Johns Hopkins, 67-63, in Centennial Conference men's basketball action.
For Hopkins (16-8, 12-6 Centennial Conference), the loss snaps a school-record 25 game home winning streak as the Blue Jays will be the third seed in this weekend's conference tournament at Franklin & Marshall, and will face second seed Ursinus Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the Mayser Center. The #1 seed Diplomats (22-3 overall, 17-1 Centennial Conference) will clash with #4 seed Gettysburg Saturday at 4 p.m. in the second semifinal.
Leading 34-33 at halftime, the Diplomats pushed their lead out to three points with 14:06 left on the clock as Juskin hit a three-pointer from the top of the arc for a 48-45 advantage. However, Hopkins responded with a 10-0 run to take a seven-point lead.
Trailing by three points, Eric Toback canned a "three" to knot the score at 48-48 with 13:51 to go. Kevin Marquez drained a three-pointer 49 seconds later and Toback finished a feed from Frank Mason for a lay-up and a 55-48 lead with 11:23 left on the clock.
Needing a spark to ignite the offense, Juskin made the front end of a pair of free throws to cut the lead to six and fire the Franklin & Marshall for a 10-0 run to retake the lead at 58-55.
Following Juskin's second missed free-throw, the Diplomats'
defense stiffened and long range shooting reawakened as Searles drained a three-pointer at 10:10 to shave the lead to three points. The two teams exchanged possessions without changing the score before Juskin split the JHU defense for a lay-up off an assist from forward Bobby Lynch (Jr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) and a free-throw courtesy a foul by Toback to knot the score at 55-55 at the 7:34 mark.
Marquez attempted a three-pointer to restart the Blue Jays', but the Diplomats' collected the rebound and found guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) open the on the wing. Wright fired a three-pointer which drew nothing but net to put Franklin & Marshall back in front 58-55.
Mason responded for Hopkins with a pair of free throws to trim the lead back to one point, but Bryan Teschke (Fr., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) made the first-of-two free throw attempts for a 59-57 lead with 5:20 to go.
The lead grew to four points as Juskin made two foul shots with 4:50 to go for a 61-57 margin.
But Hopkins came back as Danny Nawrocki connected on a lay-up to put the Jays within two points at 4:24, but Juskin made the second of a pair of free throw attempts to move the Diplomats back out in front by three points at the 2:10 mark.
The lead didn't last long as Toback drilled a jumper for a 62-61 game with 1:49 to go on the clock. However, Juskin countered knocking down a lay-up 15 seconds later to go back in front by three points.
Marquez answered the call for the Jays dropping a bucket with 57 seconds left on the clock.
Needing a basket to seal the game, Juskin's lay-up attempt drew the front of the iron and rimmed out into the arms of Marquez who attempted to move the ball up the court before meeting the defense of Wright who poked the ball away and drew a foul.
With 22 seconds on the clock and leading by only one, Wright cooly drained both shots to put F&M ahead 66-63 before Lynch added a free-throw with five seconds remaining to account for the four point win.
An offensive slugfest, the Diplomats (22-of-45) and Jays (22-of-45) both shot 48.9% from the field. However, the story of the game was F&M's accuracy from beyond the arc as Searles (three-for-three), Wright (two-for-five), Brandon Smith (So., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) (two-for-two) and Juskin (two-for-four) combined to shoot nine-of-14 (64.3%).
Marquez finished with 16 points for the Blue Jays, while senior guard Matt Righter added 11 points and five assists.
For F&M, Lynch and Wright each scored 12 points for the Diplomats as F&M will look to capture its 14th conference playoff title, including eight in the last 14 years, with three Centennial Conference crowns, this weekend in the Centennial Conference playoffs.
