Jan. 29, 2003

Box Score

Lancaster, PA - No. 15 Franklin & Marshall started the second half with a 22-4 run to break open a close game and pull away from No. 18 Johns Hopkins, 84-57, in men's basketball action Wednesday night in the Mayser Center.

The Diplomats, who improved to 16-2 overall and 5-1 in the Centennial Conference, took a 44-38 lead into halftime and scored the first seven points of the second half to open up a 51-38 advantage.

Blue Jay senior forward Steve Adams (Butler, PA/Butler) scored at the 17:08 mark, but Franklin & Marshall responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead 60-40 with 13:13 remaining. After JHU junior guard Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep) scored on a tip-in, the Diplomats scored six points in a row to end the spurt up 66-42 with 9:32 left in the game.

JHU sophomore forward Eric Toback (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Hebron) scored a career-high 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field, including 4-of-4 from three-point range, and pulled down six rebounds. Adams also scored 14 for Hopkins, which had its six-game winning streak snapped to fall to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the league.

Freshman guard Frank Mason (Silver Spring, MD/Barrie School) scored a career-high nine points and senior center Mike Blaine (Washington, DC/Bishop Ireton) pulled down six rebounds for the Blue Jays, who hit just 5-of-26 shots from the field in the second half and were outscored 40-19 in the stanza.

Steve Juskin led Franklin & Marshall by recording a double-double with game-highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Asaf Ganot added 15 points for the Diplomats, while Duran Searles scored 13 and Frank Hughes chipped in 12.

Hopkins will try to bounce back Saturday when the Blue Jays travel to Collegeville, PA, for a 3 p.m. game at Ursinus.