LANCASTER, Pa.- The (RV) Franklin & Marshall men's basketball team (13-2, 2-1 Centennial Conference) contained the (RV) Johns Hopkins (11-4, 2-1 Centennial Conference) offense, holding the Blue Jays to a 32.1% field goal percentage in Saturday's 68-54 win at the Mayser Center. The matchup was the first in the series since last season's Centennial Conference Tournament Championship game. 

Vakaris Grauslys led the offense with 15 points plus four assists and four rebounds. Franklin Jones had 11 points, seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots, while Steve Donahue contributed 13 points, three rebounds, and two assists. Kevin Nowoswiat provided a team-best nine rebounds, six points, and four assists, while Dylan Cormac totaled eight points including a team-high two threes. 

Donahue opened scoring in the game with a three on F&M's first possession, beginning a game-opening seven-point run for the Diplomats, keeping the Blue Jays off the scoreboard through the first 4:30. The Blue Jays called a timeout and responded with a 8-2 run over the next four minutes, giving F&M a 9-8 lead with 12:40 remaining in the first half. Back-to-back triples from the Blue Jays gave them their first lead of the game at 14-11 through the opening ten minutes.

The teams traded layups before Jones tied the game back up, forcing a mid-court steal and drawing a foul on his layup attempt. His successful and-one tied contest at 16-16. The sides continued to trade buckets over the next few minutes in a run that was highlighted by another mid-court steal from Jones. This time, he delivered a dunk to put F&M back ahead, 24-22. With the score at 24-23, a Cormac three was followed by a dunk from Johns Hopkins, but Cormac yet again delivered a triple on the next possession giving the hosts a 30-25 lead with two minutes to go. The sides eventually entered the halftime break with F&M ahead, 32-27. F&M was more efficient from the field in the first half, shooting 45.2% (14-of-31) against 36.0% (9-of-25) from the visitors. The sides split rebounds, 18-18, while the Blue Jays had one more turnover than the Diplomats at 6-5. 

The Blue Jays opened the second half with a three that was directly countered by a triple from Grauslys. Johns Hopkins again answered with another three on their next possession to stay within two points at 35-33. F&M followed this with four points over the next two possessions. While the Blue Jays stopped this short run with two free throws, the Diplomats followed this with a six-point run that included back-to-back jump shots from Nowoswiat to get F&M to a double-digit lead for the first time at 45-35 with 14:30 remaining. 

The sides traded buckets over the next few minutes before F&M utilized a five-point to garner a commanding 54-40 lead with seven minutes remaining. The Blue Jays attempted to rally back with a six-point run over the next two minutes, but the hosts reached a double-digit advantage for good thanks to a four-point run that gave F&M a 58-46 lead with five minutes left. F&M eventually won, 68-54.

While the Blue Jays' offense struggled to 32.1% across the entire contest, they were kept to just 28.6% (8-of-28) in the second half while the Diplomats shot an efficient 63.2% (12-of-19) in the final 20 minutes. F&M outrebounded Johns Hopkins narrowly, 35-32. 

The Diplomats return in the midweek with a trip to Haverford on Wednesday, January 21, at 7:30 p.m.