Box Score

LANCASTER, PA- The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team saw its three-game winning streak come to an end as the Blue Jays fell to #17 Franklin & Marshall Thursday night. Hopkins did not go down without a fight, however, giving the first-place Diplomats all they could handle in front of 1,011 in at the Mayser Center.

The Jays dropped to 7-7 on the season and 4-3 in Centennial Conference play with the 63-60 loss, while the hosts improved to 12-2 and remained undefeated in the Centennial Conference at 7-0.

Matthew Tate drained a three-pointer just 11 seconds into the game for F&M and the Diplomats held their lead for the remainder of the first half and deep into the second half. Every time the hosts went on a run however, the Blue Jays answered.

The first Dipomats' run came early as they led 14-5, but Hopkins answered with a 9-0 run of its own capped by a Sam Gordon layup to tie the contest with 9:24 left in the first half.

F&M scored 10 of the next 11 points to lead 24-15 before the resilient Blue Jays answered again and cut the 26-24. It looked like the Diplomats would take a four point lead into the locker room at halftime, but a steal and layup from Noah Ralby as the buzzer sounded cut the Jays' deficit to two at the break.

The second half was more of the same. F&M led throughout, but Hopkins did not go away. The Blue Jays took their first, and only, lead of the game with 1:34 left when Gene Williams drained a three-pointer.

JHU's lead was short-lived and lasted just 21 seconds as the Diplomats answered with a layup from Cedric Moune to take a 60-59 lead with just under a minute remaining.

F&M hit two foul shots late in the contest and led by three with eight seconds to go. Gordon was fouled shooting a three in the corner with less than a second on the clock. The senior swished the first free throw, but could not convert the remaining two tries and the Diplomats walked away with the win in front of a feisty home crowd.

Gordon finished the contest with 14 points and seven rebounds to lead Hopkins. Matt Billups and Ryan Curran also added 14 for JHU. Brandon Federici finished with 20 points to lead the Diplomats and help head coach Glenn Robinson earn his 902nd career win. Robinson tied for University of Indiana head coach Bob Knight on the all-time victories list.

Hopkins will look to start a new winning streak Saturday afternoon when it hosts Ursinus. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 pm in Goldfarb Gymnasium. The game is a rematch of a December 5th contest in Collegeville that saw the Jays win a 101-94 shootout over the Bears.

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