CARLISLE, Pa. – Johns Hopkins defeated Franklin & Marshall 50-48 in the Centennial Conference (CC) Semifinals Friday evening in Carlisle. The Blue Jays improved to 16-10 and advanced the to the CC Finals to take on Dickinson while the Diplomats finished the year with a 17-9 record. 

The Diplomats erased a 10-point second half deficit, and came within two, 37-35, with 13:32 left in the game. Hopkins quickly went back up four before Morgan Lee converted the traditional three-point play to bring the Diplomats within a point, 41-40 at 10:56. Nito Kotoulas put the Jays up 43-40 and Matt Porter hit two from the stripe to give F&M its first lead, 44-43, with 5:27 left to play. 

Connor McIntyre hit two from the line seconds later to put Hopkins back up, 45-44, but Porter found Jon Salandra at 4:12 to give F&M a 48-47 edge. Both teams came up empty on their ensuing trips down the court before McIntyre hit a layup that gave Hopkins a 49-48 lead with just 1:37 left on the clock. 

Both teams failed to score on their next trips down the court before Lee was fouled with 2.2 seconds left in the game. Lee missed both shots and McIntyre was fouled on the rebound. He hit the first shot to make it 50-48 with a second left and missed the second, but F&M's hail mary went out of the bounds to secure the win for Hopkins.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a 14-5 lead eight minutes into the game as the Diplomats struggled to find the bucket. Hopkins went up 20-8 at 10:19 before F&M outscored the Blue Jays 16-6 over the next eight minutes to come within two, 26-24, at the two-minute mark. Hopkins finished with the final six points of the half and took a 30-24 lead at the break. 

Salandra finished with his seventh double-double of the year with 14 points and 14 boards and added three blocks and three steals. Lee ended with a game-high 16 points, Porter netted six while Jared Wright, Devin Figueroa and Lior Levy all tallied three. 

McIntyre led the way for Hopkins with 12 and Matt Billups finished with 11.