BALTIMORE, MD - Franklin & Marshall guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) became the all-time three point field goal leader in school history and forward Bryan Teschke (So., Pittsburgh, PA/Fox Chapel) poured in a game high 18 points as the Franklin & Marshall College men's basketball team overcame a cold first half shooting performance to ice host Johns Hopkins University 64-59 in Centennial Conference action.
Wright, who scored 12 points to raise his career scoring total at the College to 1,245 and surpass Mark Worley '79 (1,233 points) for 15th on the all-time scoring list at Franklin & Marshall, went two-of-six from beyond the arc as he broke the prior school career record of 234 career treys held by Jeremiah Henry '96 by registering the 235 and 236th of his career.
Wright made his record breaking shot count against Hopkins as he stroked a trey off a steal by center Dan Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) with 16:19 left on the game clock to cap a 15-4 run by Franklin & Marshall in the opening minutes of the second half to turn a 28-22 halftime deficit into a 37-32 lead.
He added to his record later in the game as he dropped a three-pointer off an assist by Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) for a 60-52 lead with 3:08 left on the clock. However, Hopkins (10-6, 7-3 Centennial Conference) chipped away at the lead to trail 60-56 with 2:08 left to play before Wright went four-of-four at the free-throw line down the stretch as he scored all 12 of his points in the second half.
For his career, Wright is now 236-of-613 from beyond the arc (38.5%) as he also holds the record for most three-pointers attempted.
However, the story of the game was Teschke who connected on eight-of-13 from the field and two-of-two at the free throw line while pulling down four rebounds and blocking two shots in 36 minutes of play.
Following a first half in which the Diplomats shot seven-of-29 (24.1%) from the floor, including three-of-eight from beyond the arc, Teschke hit seven of his eight second half shots for 14 points to key an offensive attack in which Franklin & Marshall drained 16-of-31 field goal attempts (51.6%), three-of-six from long range (50.0%) and seven-of-eight at the charity stripe (87.5%) to overpower Hopkins 42-31 in the last 20 minutes of play.
The first half was all Johns Hopkins as the Blue Jays jumped out to a seven point lead before F&M chipped away to trail 28-22 at halftime.
The key to the half for the Diplomats were Hopkins turnovers as F&M netted nine points off nine JHU miscues.
Following a lay-up by Matt Griffin to open the second half and push Hopkins lead to 30-22, the Diplomats offense awoke as the blue and white reeled off a 15-2 run behind a free throw and lay-up by Lynch, three-pointers by Smith and Wright and lay-ups from Teschke and point guard Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) to take a 37-32 lead with 16:19 left in the game.
JHU's Eric Toback countered with a three pointer to cut the lead back to 37-35, but Teschke shook his defender and finished a pass from Outerbridge to inch the margin back to four points. Against JHU responded as TJ Valerio drilled a three-pointer at 15:23, but Teschke put back a missed shot by Wright at 14:09 and hit a jumper at 13:39 to give the Diplomats a 43-38 lead.
The Jays rallied as Valerio hit a three-pointer and Toback converted a lay-up to knot the game at 43-43 with 11:58 left to play, but Wright canned a jumper 16 seconds later to put the Diplomats back in front 45-43. Forward Josh Fogg (Jr., Merrimacport, MA/Cushing Academy) added a lay-up at 10:40 to push F&M's lead out to four points, but Bobby Sharafeddin connected on a three-pointer and Valerio made the front-end of a pair of free throws to knot the game at 47-47 with 8:33 on the clock.
Franklin & Marshall regained the lead as Lynch made a pair of free throws at 7:36, but Valerio finished a pass from Sharafeddin for a three-pointer to put Hopkins back in front 50-49 at 6:52 for the first time since a 32-30 lead at the 17:41 mark of the second half.
The lead lasted 31 seconds as Adam Leonard (Fr., Muncy, PA/Muncy) put back a missed shot at 6:21 and finished a lay-up off a steal and assist by Outerbridge at 6:08 for a 53-50 lead. The margin increased to five points as Teschke finished a feed from Outerbridge for a 55-50 lead at 5:46 before Sharafeddin scored a lay-up at 4:39.
Teschke answered with a lay-up off an assist from Outerbridge at 4:15 and Wright drained a three-pointer at 3:08 to put the lead at 60-52.
However, Hopkins refused to give up the ghost as Griffin made a pair of free throws at 2:48 to shave the lead to six points before Valerio made a lay-up at 2:08 to pull JHU to within four at 60-56.
The Diplomats defense did the rest stopping Hopkins on back-to-back trips down the court, including a block and defensive rebound by Teschke with under 40 seconds left, to force the Blue Jays to foul Wright with 18 seconds remaining as the senior deposited both shots for a 62-56 lead. Jeff Thompson swished a three for JHU to pull Hopkins to within three at 62-59 with 10 seconds remaining, but Wright iced the win with a pair of free throws for the 64-59 final.
A key to the game was Hopkins' ball-handling as the Jays committed 20 turnovers to F&M's nine, including an 11-to-five deficit in the second half, as the Diplomats cashed the turnovers in for 20 second half points while JHU mustered just two points.
For Hopkins, Valerio led the way with 16 points, while Toback and Sharafeddin chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Historically, the loss marks the third by Hopkins at home in the last three years as Franklin & Marshall has knocked off the Jays in their last two meetings in Baltimore, including a 67-63 win on February 24, 2004. Further, the win marks the fourth straight for Franklin & Marshall over Hopkins as the Diplomats handled JHU last year 81-60 on January 28 during the regular season and 69-58 in the Centennial Conference title game on February 29 in the Mayser Center and 67-63 at Hopkins on February 24 following a 68-65 loss on February 22, 2003 in Baltimore.
Franklin & Marshall (12-5, 7-3 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on January 29 at Swarthmore. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.
