LANCASTER, Pa. -- Franklin & Marshall held a halftime lead against Johns Hopkins, but could not hold on as Hopkins slipped past F&M by a 53-44 final in Centennial Conference (CC) action on Thursday night at the Mayser Center. A 10-0 scoring run by the Blue Jays (12-2, 9-1 CC) helped overcome the Diplomats' (6-9, 4-6 CC) three point lead at the break.

Both teams struggled in the opening half, ultimately combining for more turnovers than points (31-27). F&M was able to take advantage of the miscues, holding Johns Hopkins to just four field goals, including none in the second quarter. The suffocating defense led the Diplomats to a 15-12 advantage at the break.

After a Kennedy Wilburn layup to open the second half to give F&M its largest lead of the contest at 17-12, the Blue Jays caught fire on a 10-0 spree to snag a 22-17 lead with 6:38 remaining in the third quarter. Johns Hopkins held that five point advantage entering the fourth quarter, which expanded to 35-26 after hitting the opening pair of buckets in the fourth quarter. The Diplomats closed the Blue Jays advantage to four on two occasions in the fourth quarter, including a trio of free throws by Natalie Kolb and Kenna Williams that narrowed the deficit to 40-36 with 2:04 remaining.  A quick 5-0 Hopkins spurt quickly dashed F&M's chances of a late comeback, closing out the game with eight from the charity stripe to polish off the 53-44 final.

F&M outshot Johns Hopkins from the field 35%-30.2%, and held a +11 edge in rebounds (40-29). The Diplomats turned the ball over 32 times, while the Blue Jays committed 20 mistakes.

Natalie Kolb led the Diplomats with 14 points, while Kenna Williams joined her teammate in double-figures with 11. Williams also led F&M with a game-high dozen rebounds, while swatting three Blue Jays shots. Jaclyn Feit led the team with four blocks in 14 minutes off the bench.

F&M gets back in action on Saturday, Jan. 22 with a 1:00 p.m. matinee against Haverford in CC play.