Jan. 28, 2004

Box Score

LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall forward Steve Juskin scored 23 points while dishing out nine assists and blocking six shots, all game-highs, to lead the 15th-ranked Diplomats to an 81-60 victory over Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference men's basketball action Wednesday night at the Mayser Center.

Brandon Smith and Duran Searles each added 16 points for F&M, which solidified its hold on first place in the league by improving to 15-2 overall and 10-0 in the conference. The Blue Jays, who have lost three of their last four, dropped to 11-5 overall and 7-3 in league play.

Hopkins trailed 30-24 at the half but scored five of the first seven points of the second period, pulling within 32-29 at the 18:21 mark after a basket by freshman forward Danny Nawrocki (Syosset, NY/Chaminade). However the Diplomats, who won their 10th straight game and their eighth in a row over the Blue Jays in Lancaster, exploded for a 30-9 run over the ensuing nine minutes to pull away.

After Justin and Bryan Teschke hit jumpers to ignite the run, JHU sophomore guard Frank Mason (Silver Spring, MD/Barrie School) converted a lay-up, but F&M scored 10 straight points, including seven by Smith, to go up 46-31 with 13:13 remaining.

Meanwhile, after Mason's basket the Diplomats held Hopkins without a field goal for six minutes before Nawrocki scored with 8:42 left to make it a 62-40 game.

F&M then scored six of next eight points to take its largest lead of the game at 68-42 before the Blue Jays responded with a 9-0 run of their own.

Senior guard Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep), Nawrocki and Mason each scored eight points Hopkins, while sophomore guard Jeff Thompson (Binghamton, NY/Loomis Chaffee) and junior guard Marc Leone (Radnor, PA/Radnor) added seven apiece. Freshman guard TJ Valerio (Blue Bell, PA/St. Joseph's Prep) came off the bench to score six points while grabbing a team-high six rebounds.

The game remained tight early until F&M scored five straight points to take a 24-16 lead with 8:27 left in the first half. The Blue Jays answered with an 8-2 spurt on two three-pointers by Valerio sandwiched around a basket by senior guard Kevin Marquez (Oakton, VA/Oakton) to cut the deficit to two before the Diplomats ended the half with two buckets to take the six-point lead into the break.

Hopkins returns to action Saturday when the Blue Jays host Muhlenberg at 4 p.m. in Goldfarb Gymnasium.

Box Score:                1   2       FJohns Hopkins (11-5, 7-3 Centennial)            24  36  -   60#15 Franklin & Marshall (15-2, 10-0 Centennial)     30  51  -   81