BALTIMORE, Md.- The Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (9-6, 1-2 Centennial) were unable to overcome a strong run from Johns Hopkins (8-6, 3-0 Centennial) that saw the Blue Jays build out a double-digit lead in the second half, as the Diplomats fell 77-70 on Saturday afternoon.

Kevin Nowoswiat scored a career-high 30 points in the loss, shooting 9-of-13 on field goals, 3-of-4 on threes, and 9-of-9 on free throws. He also led F&M with five assists. John Seidman shot a season-high 17 points, going 6-of-9 on field goals and 3-of-5 on free throws. From the bench, Dylan Cormac totaled nine points, converting on 3-of-9 three-point field goals. Sebastien Charles led F&M with two blocked shots and six rebounds in his first start of the season. 

The Blue Jays opened the scoring with a pair of  layups in the opening two minutes. Nowoswiat got the Diplomats on the board with a step-back jump shot a possession later, although the Blue Jays responded with four more points to lead 8-2 through the first four minutes. A Nowoswiat layup stopped the run for a moment, as Johns Hopkins added five more points to hold a 4-13 lead. They eventually pushed their lead to a half-high ten at 7-17 with 12:30 to go. 

The Diplomats regained momentum with a 16-3 run over the next five minutes that included two threes from Seidman, a three from Asad Syed, and a layup plus an and-one from Vakaris Grauslys. The run put them ahead 23-20 for their first lead of the contest. The Blue Jays stalled the run with a layup and foul shot of their own to tie the game at 23 each. The teams traded buckets before a Cormac three put F&M ahead 28-25. Back-to-back layups from Johns Hopkins put the hosts ahead by one point before Seidman's third three of the half put F&M ahead 31-29 at the break. Seidman ended the half with a team-high 11 points, including three three-pointers.

90 seconds into the second half, the Blue Jays leveled the game with a layup, setting up a sequence of the teams trading buckets, with neither team leading by more than two points over the first 9:30 of the half. After six ties and seven lead changes, the Blue Jays took the lead for good with a three with 12:00, leading 44-42. This began an 11-2 run, giving the hosts a 49-42 lead with 9:37 left. Nowoswiat stalled the run with five points between two possessions to close the gap to five, but the Blue Jays soon pushed back out to a double digit lead at 57-47 with seven minutes to play. The lead stayed around that margin for a few minutes, with consecutive Cormac threes reducing the gap to five points with 3:18 left. Johns Hopkins responded to the second three with a dunk on the break, and F&M got no closer than four points over the final two minutes. 

F&M struggled with turnovers, committing 17 against 10 from Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays also rebounded the Diplomats 37-28. 

The Diplomats look to break the two-game losing skid when they host Haverford on Wednesday, January 22, at 7:00 p.m.