BALTIMORE, MD – Freshman Brayden Fagbemi scored 23 points to lead the 23^rd-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team to a 76-55 win over Franklin & Marshall in the Centennial Conference Semifinals Friday night at Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays improve to 20-6 on the season while the Diplomats fall to 20-7.
 
Franklin & Marshall jumped out to a 12-4 lead less than five minutes into the first half, fueled by a pair of triples from Kevin Nowoswiat and John Seidman. Sophomore Charlie Jackson got Hopkins going on the offensive end with a layup that sparked an 18-3 run that spanned just over six minutes. Seven Blue Jays scored during the run, which was capped by a Will Sykes put-back that staked JHU to a 22-15 lead.
 
Jaylen Green pulled the Dips back within four with a three-pointer, but a John Windley three-point play and a Sykes' hook shot put the Jays up 27-18 with 7:37 left in the first. Green answered with another bucket from downtown cut the deficit back to six. Graduate student Carson James then made a driving layup, followed by a three from Jeb Williams and just like that the lead was 11. The teams then traded buckets over the final four minutes and Hopkins took a 38-26 lead into the half.
 
Vakaris Grauslys opened the second with a bucket for F&M to make it a 10-point game. But Hopkins responded with five straight points to push the lead out to 15. The Diplomats twice cut the lead to 11 in the ensuing four minutes, but they could get no closer. Hopkins would push its lead to as many 25 over the final five minutes before taking the 76-55 win.
 
Fagbemi finished 10-of-14 from the floor for a game-high 23 points and handed out four assists. Windley scored nine points, while James added eight points and five rebounds. Graduate student Sidney Thybulle grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and blocked five shots, to go with two assists, two steals and six points. Josh Parra led the Diplomats with a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Grauslys and Seidman added nine points each.
 
Hopkins returns to Goldfarb Gym on Sunday, February 25 against Swarthmore in the Centennial Conference Championship.
 
Notes: Thybulle's five blocks are a Hopkins Centennial Conference Tournament record • He now has 133 career blocks and ranks third in program history • As a team, JHU had nine blocked shots, also a school CC Tournament record • Hopkins and Swarthmore will meet in the CC title game for the sixth straight year • This is JHU's fifth 20-win season in the last six seasons.