LANCASTER, Pa. – No. 13 Johns Hopkins defeated No. 16 Franklin & Marshall 50-46 in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Wednesday evening. The loss dropped F&M to 17-3, 10-3 CC while the Blue Jays improved to 18-2, 12-1 CC. 

Hopkins started out with a 6-0 lead two minutes into the game before the Diplomats countered with a 10-2 run with six points from Brandon Federici and took a 10-8 edge at 14:00. Tied at 12-12, F&M scored four straight before the Blue Jays answered with six of their own and went up 18-16 at 7:18.  

Federici hit a triple to kick off a 5-0 spurt for F&M, which gave the Diplomats a 21-18 lead, but Hopkins countered again, this time with an 8-0 run and went up five, 26-21, at 1:45. Morgan Lee hit two from the stripe with under 25 seconds to play and the Blue Jays went into the break with a 26-23 lead. 

The Blue Jays increased their lead to seven, 32-25 to start out the second and F&M outscored Hopkins 10-5 over the next five minutes to come within two, 37-35, at 9:45. Ryan Curran started a 5-0 spurt for Hopkins, which gave them a 42-35 lead and the Diplomats answered with eight straight and went up a point, 43-42 with 5:02 left in the contest. 

Jimmy Hammer's layup at 3:47 put JHU up for good, 44-43, and the Blue Jays increased their lead to five, 49-44, with 1:31 left in the game. Cedric Moune put back his own shot on the Diplomats next trip down the court to bring F&M within three and a steal by Devin Figueroa with 46 ticks on the clock gave F&M the ball back. The Diplomats failed to hit a three and Hammer went to line for Hopkins and hit one of two to seal the win for the Blue Jays. 

Federici led F&M with 15 points while Lee finished with 13 and eight boards. Moune pulled down a game-high 15 boards and netted 10 points for his fifth double-double of the season to go along with five blocks and two steals. 

Hammer paced the Blue Jays with 15 while George Bugarinovic chipped in 14 and added 10 boards. 

The Diplomats return to action on Saturday when F&M travels to Washington for a 2:00 p.m. contest.