Game Notes

Now entering the final stretch of the season, the Franklin & Marshall Men's Basketball team (17-4, 12-2) is scheduled for a pair of crucial games this week in No. 20 Johns Hopkins and Swarthmore. Both the Blue Jays and Garnet trail the Diplomats in the standings, with F&M leading the conference. A win over Johns Hopkins would significantly increase the chances of locking down the number one seed in the conference tournament, while defeating Swarthmore would ensure that the Diplomats finish no lower than third place in the standings.  

Last Week

On the road against Ursinus on Wednesday, F&M had its eight-game win streak snapped with a heartbreaking 67-65 loss. Leading 12-11 in the first half, the Diplomats saw a seven-minute scoring drought during which the Bears jumped on top 16-12 and took the lead for good. Though F&M managed to even the score 26-26, Trevor Wall made a layup for Ursinus on the final possession of the half to give the Bears a two-point advantage heading into the locker room. Later ahead 36-34 in the second frame, Ursinus used a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of night. With the Bears in front 50-39 less than two minutes later, the Diplomats outscored Ursinus 8-1 over the next two minutes to make it a four-point game. After the two teams traded blows for several possessions, Vakaris Grauslys drilled a shot from beyond the arc to make it a 60-59 game with just over two minutes left in regulations. Then, down by three with six seconds remaining, Grauslys was sent to the free throw line, where he knocked down his first attempt but missed the second. Jaylen Green came up with the offensive board and passed up to Omar Nichols, who was unable to connect with the go-ahead three-pointer at the buzzer, as F&M fell just short of the Bears. Read the full recap here. 

Returning home to the Mayser Center on Saturday, the Diplomats quickly recovered from their loss with a 70-49 domination of Muhlenberg. Leading for the entirety of the game, F&M got out to a 21-11 advantage just over 10 minutes into the contest. Though the Diplomats led by as much as 16 in the first half, the Mules managed to end the final minute of the frame with a 7-0 run to make it a 35-27 game at the intermission. Leading 37-29 in the early stages of the second half, F&M extended its lead to 23 with a 20-5 run. Though the Mules did respond with 11 unanswered points of their own, a 9-2 run by the Diplomats put the game out of reach for Muhlenberg. Read the full recap here. 

Last Time vs. Johns Hopkins

Having met previously in early December, the Blue Jays handed F&M its first loss of the season, defeating the Diplomats 74-54. Johns Hopkins led for the entirety of the contest, and led by as much as 15 in the first half. Trailing 40-27 after the first three minutes of the second frame, F&M score six unanswered points to get to within seven. However, the Blue Jays responded with a 9-2 run to go back up by double-digits, leading 49-35 with 13 minutes left to play. After Johns Hopkins extended the lead to 56-39, the Diplomats scored nine consecutive points to close the gap to eight with just under seven minutes remaining. It was the closest F&M would get for the remainder of the night though, as the Blue Jays outscored the Diplomats 18-6 to end the contest. Read the full recap here. 

Last Time vs. Swarthmore

Less than one month prior, F&M overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat Swarthmore 70-55 on home floor. In the opening eight minutes of the game, the Garnet raced out to a 14-1 lead with the Diplomats failing to register a field goal in that span. Vakaris Grauslys then broke the drought with a layup to spark a 7-2 run in which he scored all seven points and cut the deficit to eight. Answering with a 6-0 run of its own, Swarthmore led by double-digits for the remainder of the first half and took a 32-20 advantage into the break. Trailing 36-25 with less than 17 minutes remaining, F&M used a 12-0 run to take its first lead of the contest in 26 minutes of play. The score then saw four lead changes and four ties with the Diplomats holding a 47-44 edge with eight minutes remaining in the game. However, F&M broke the game open with a 9-2 run to go up by 10 at the five-minute mark. Though the Diplomats saw their lead get cut to five with three minutes remaining, F&M ended the game on a 13-3 run to seal the win. Read the full recap here. 

Johns Hopkins Team Preview

Entering the start of last week on a 13-game winning streak, the Blue Jays saw their run come to an end with a loss to Gettysburg on Wednesday night. However, Johns Hopkins recovered with a 79-55 win over Dickinson on Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped the Blue Jays two spots in the D3hoops.com poll, now checking in at No. 20 in the most recent edition. Johns Hopkins also fell to third place in the conference standings with the Bullets owning the head-to-head tiebreak after sweeping the season series. 

Offensively, John Windley has contributed significant scoring production, averaging 15.8 points per game on 49.4 FG% and 43.4 3PT%. In his last four contests, the junior has recorded 21.3 points per game and shot 12-of-24 from beyond the arc. On the boards, Sidney Thybulle has been the third-highest rebounder in the conference this season, averaging 7.6 rebounds per game. That includes over three offensive rebounds per tilt, which ranks top-50 in the country. The graduate student has also been a force on the defensive end, tallying nearly two blocks per game, good for second in the conference. As a team, the Blue Jays rank near the top of the conference in nearly every category, particularly in scoring defense in which they are second in the Centennial and 14th in all of division III. However, they have not performed well from the free throw line, shooting 65.5%, which ranks eighth in the conference. 

Swarthmore Team Preview

Having won five of its last six, Swarthmore is back in the race for a top seed in the Centennial Conference tournament, trailing first place by two games. The Garnet most recently defeated McDaniel last Saturday afternoon after downing Muhlenberg earlier in the week. To end the season, Swarthmore will have key matchups against both F&M and Johns Hopkins, setting up for an exciting finish to league play. 

Recently named the Centennial Conference Player of the Week, Vinny D'Angelo has led the offensive charge for the Garnet, averaging 16.6 points per game while shooting 46.8% from the field and 41.3% from the three-point line. In the season's first meeting, the Diplomats managed to hold D'Angelo to just 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the floor. The Garnet also boast the league's leading rebounder in Michael Caprise, who averages 8.8 rebounds per contest while also scoring 15.4 points per game. The senior also leads the conference in double-doubles with eight on the year, including two in his last four games. His contributions have led to a team rebounding margin of 7.6, good for first in the Centennial and 22nd in the nation. Defensively, Swarthmore has been unable to take the ball away consistently, ranking 10th in the conference in turnovers forced with 11.7 per tilt.