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LANCASTER, PA - Franklin & Marshall College center Steve Juskin (Jr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) recorded one block for his 60th swat of the season to reset the school blocked shot record as the #15 nationally ranked Diplomats handled #18 Johns Hopkins, 84-57 in the Mayser Center. Juskin's mark eclipses his own school record of 59 blocks set last year in 29 games. During the 2001-02 season, he reset the previous school record of 53 set by Darren Sanborn during the 1995-96 season. For his career, Juskin now has 168, 65 more than runner-up and two-time All-America selection Chris Finch '92. Against Hopkins, Juskin hit eight-of-17 from the field and one-of-two from the foul-line for 17 points, while pulling down 17 boards as F&M moved into sole possession of first place in the Centennial Conference Western Division. Gettysbug, a 62-54 winner over Dickinson College, slips to second in the Conference standings as the Bullets fell to F&M 63-52 in their only meeting so far this year. Although both teams have 5-1 Conference marks, F&M is 4-0 in CC West play, while Gettysburg is 3-1, as the Diplomats hold a better divisional record than the Bullets to place first in the Western Division race. Versus the Blue Jays, the game did not start out as a rout as Hopkins built a 12-4 lead 5:07 into the game before the Diplomats exploded for an 8-0 run to tie the game. Hopkins pulled ahead 19-16 with 10:08 left to play in the first half, but Franklin & Marshall countered with a 7-0 run in 1:57 to take a 23-19 lead. Again Hopkins pulled ahead to take a 27-25 lead with 6:14 left prior to intermission, but back-to-back steal and fast break lay-ups by guards Brandon Jones (Jr., Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Friends) and Brandon Smith (Fr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) put the Diplomats ahead to stay at 29-27 as the Diplomats did not trail again in the game as F&M carried a 44-38 lead into halftime. In the second half, Franklin & Marshall dominated Hopkins rattling off a 16-2 run behind four defensive boards by point guard Duran Searles (Jr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School) and four points from Smith to take a 60-40 lead as Hopkins failed to move within 18-points the rest of the way. Four Diplomats finished in double-figures in scoring as Searles added 13, forward/guard Asaf Ganot (Sr., Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) chipped in 15 and forward Frank Hughes (Sr., Annapolis, MD/US Naval Academy) dropped in 12 to compliment Juskin's performance. Overall, Ganot blocked a game high three shots to lead a Diplomats' defense which swatted seven Blue Jay scoring attempts and limited Hopkins to five-of-26 shooting in the second for a 19.2 shooting percentage. In the game, Hopkins hit 20-of-56 from the floor, while F&M converted 33-of-66 shots, including six-of-15 from three-point range. The win improves F&M's record to 45-25 all-time against Hopkins, and marks the fifth fewest points allowed by the Diplomats this year. Further, F&M's total of 13 steals ties for the second most tallied by the Blue and White this year as the Diplomats corralled 13 versus Lebanon Valley, Lincoln and St. Mary's in previous contests. For Hopkins (13-4, 4-2 CC), Eric Toback and Steve Adams led the 'Jays with 14 points, as the pair scored 11 and 12 points, respectively, in the first half. Franklin & Marshall (16-2, 5-1 Centennial Conference) will return to action on February 1 at Centennial Conference opponent Washington College. Game time is set for 3:00 p.m. in Chestertown, Maryland.
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