LANCASTER, PA – The 13th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team held on for a 50-46 win at 16th-ranked Franklin & Marshall Wednesday night in Centennial Conference (CC) action. The Blue Jays extend their win streak to 15 as they improve to 18-2 overall and 12-1 in the CC. The Diplomats slip to 17-3 overall and 10-3 in the league as they suffer their first home loss of the season.
In a game befitting two of the top teams in the league this one came down to the wire. Trailing by one with 5:02 to play after Brandon Federici drove the baseline and laid one in, Hopkins got back-to-back buckets by senior Jimmy Hammer and junior Gene Williams in a 29-second span to take a three-point lead. The teams then traded free throw shots and Hopkins led 47-44 with 1:52 to go.
Following a missed three by Federici, senior Omar Randall grabbed a long rebound and raced to the other end for a fast-break bucket to push the advantage to five. A long possession for the Diplomats ended with a Cedri Moune put back at the 59-second mark to cut it to three. The Blue Jays turned it over on the next possession, but a pair of missed Dips' shots ended with a George Bugarinovic rebound. Trailing by three as the clock ticked down, Franklin & Marshall fouled, sending Hammer to the charity stripe. Hammer made the front end of the one-and-one to extend the lead to four. On the ensuing possession, the Diplomats had three shots at the basket but none could fall and time expired.
Hopkins jumped out to a 6-0 lead but following a timeout, Franklin & Marshall woke up and used a 10-2 run to take the lead. Federici capped the run with back-to-back three-pointers to give the Dips the lead with 14:00 to play in the half. Bugarinovic answered with consecutive buckets in the paint to swing the lead back to the Blue Jays, 12-10. The senior had accounted for 10 straight points for the Jays to that point. F&M came right back with six straight points, four from Morgan Lee, to take a 16-12 lead at the 11:01-mark.
Following a long drought by both teams, sophomore Ryan Curran hit one of two free throws, followed by a Williams triple and the score was all knotted up. Curran then put the Blue Jays on top with a layup with 7:18 to go. The lead didn't last long however as Federici hit another bucket from downtown to put the home team up 19-18. Moune followed with a bucket in the paint and the lead was three.
Hammer and Vasiliadis gave Hopkins back the lead as the pair hit back-to-back three-pointers just 41 second apart. That put Hopkins up 24-21 and the lead grew to five on a pull-up jumper by Hammer with 1:45 to play in the half. Lee would cut the deficit back to three at the break with a pair of shots from the line.
Hopkins started the second half much the same as the first, opening on a 6-2 spurt to push its lead to seven at the 16:26-mark. Lee and Federici trimmed it to just three with a pair of buckets but a conventional three-point play by Hammer doubled the lead with 12:15 on the clock. The Dips weren't going away however and used a 6-2 burst to make it a two-point game just two and a half minutes later.
Once again the Jays answered, with a layup from Curran and a Williams three-pointer that barely moved the net from the top of the key, to go up 42-35. Franklin & Marshall responded with an 8-0 run to take a 43-42 lead on Federici's bucket at the 5:02-mark. It was the Dips' first lead in more than 20 minutes of game time and it wouldn't last long as the Blue Jays outscored them 8-3 down the stretch.
Hammer led the Blue Jays with 15 points, while corralling six rebounds, and handing out a pair of assists. Bugarinovic finished with his 17th career double double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 boards. He also blocked three shots and tied his career high with five steals. Federici paced the Dips with 15 points, while Moune had 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds and five blocks. Lee also finished in double figures, chipping in 13 points and eight rebounds.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, February 7 as the Blue Jays travel to the Main Line to take on the Swarthmore Garnet. Tip-off at Tarble Pavilion is slated for 3:00 pm.