The Basics
• Score: #10 Johns Hopkins-64, Franklin & Marshall-53
• Records: JHU (21-3, 15-2 CC) • FMC (10-14, 6-11 CC)
• Location: Lancaster, PA • Mayser Center
How it Happened
Junior Conner Delaney and sophomore Chid Nnake combined for 30 points to lead the 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team to a 64-53 win over host Franklin & Marshall Wednesday night.
Hopkins jumped out to an 11-4 lead with four different Blue Jays scoring in the opening six minutes. Four straight points for F&M pulled the home team back within three at the 12:11-mark. Sophomore Tom Quarry then hit a pair of free throws to spark a 15-1 run that saw the Blue Jays' lead balloon to 17 in just three-and-a-half minutes. Again four different Blue Jays scored during the run, which was capped by five straight points from Delaney.
The lead see-sawed up and down but remained in double digits for the remainder of the half as Hopkins took a 37-21 lead at the break. Delaney opened the second half with a driving layup to push the lead to 18. Solomon Mathis responded with a jumper to kick-start a 10-2 spurt to pull the Diplomats within 10 with 14:31 to play. A Delaney triple and a Nnake put-back put Hopkins up 46-31 just 64 seconds later.
Franklin & Marshall responded with a 13-4 run, fueled by seven points from Justin Kupa, to slice the deficit to just six with 8:52 on the clock. Another Nnake layup, followed by a Quarry bucket from downtown and just like that the Blue Jays led 55-44. Ignas Slyka converted a conventional three-point play to make it an eight-point game.
Once again the Blue Jays answered. A driving layup from Delaney followed by seven straight points from Nnake, sandwiched around a Slyka free throw, staked Hopkins to a 64-48 lead with 2:27 to play. The Dips would score the final five points of the game to account for the 64-53 final.
What it Means
• Hopkins improves to 44-64 all-time against Franklin & Marshall and has won the last six meetings. This was just the 18th Blue Jay win in Lancaster since 1956.
• The win is the 79th for seniors Harry O'Neil and Mac Rowan, tying the record for wins in a four-year period.
Inside the Box Score
• Nnake finished with a career-best 15 points, going 7-of-8 from the field, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Delaney scored 15 points to go with five assists and a pair of steals. Quarry also finished in double figures, putting up 13 points, two steals and five rebounds.
• O'Neil played in his 100th career game and is just the 22nd player in program history to reach the milestone.
• Brian Hines led three Dips in double figures with 12 points while Slyka and Mathis had 10 each. Hines and Slyka led the team with five rebounds each.
• Hopkins shot 50 percent from the field for the game while holding Franklin & Marshall to just 32.0 percent, including 22.7 percent in the first half.
Up Next
• Hopkins wraps up the regular season on Saturday, February 22 against Haverford. Tip-off at Goldfarb Gym is slated for 3:00 pm.