Jan. 13, 2004

Box Score

Baltimore, MD - Johns Hopkins senior guard Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep) scored a career-high 22 points and hit six free throws down the stretch as the Blue Jay men's basketball team won its sixth straight game with a 68-61 victory over Haverford Tuesday night at Goldfarb Gymnasium.

Hopkins extended its school-record home winning streak to 20 games while improving to 9-2 overall and 5-0 in the Centennial Conference. The Fords fell to 4-7 overall and 2-3 in league play.

The Blue Jays led 29-28 at the half and opened the second period on an 8-2 spurt, taking a 37-30 lead on a lay-up by sophomore guard Frank Mason (Silver Spring, MD/Barrie School) with 15:00 to play. Haverford twice pulled within three over the next three minutes, but Hopkins extended its lead to 52-42 when sophomore guard Jeff Thompson (Binghamton, NY/Loomis Chaffee) found freshman forward Matt Griffin (Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) for a lay-up with 6:38 remaining.

JHU still led by 10 at 59-49 at the 4:31 mark after a three-pointer by junior forward Eric Toback (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Hebron), but the Fords would make a run as Jeremy Bass nailed four free throws to make it a 60-56 game with 2:22 left. After Mason hit one of two free throws for the Blue Jays, Patrick Stewart did the same for Haverford, and Toback made one of two from the line to give Hopkins a 62-57 advantage with 42 seconds to play.

After Haverford guard Johnny Elefterakis missed a three-pointer Righter nailed two free throws, and following a basket by Fords guard Mike Kelly, Righter hit two more foul shots to put Hopkins up 66-59 with 15 seconds left. After a miss by Kelly, Righter hit two more free throws, and Haverford guard Jason Polykoff scored at the buzzer to account for the final margin.

Hopkins freshman forward Danny Nawrocki (Syosset, NY/Chaminade) scored 12 points for the Blue Jays, while Toback added 11 points and seven rebounds and Righter chipped in seven boards. Matt Stein led Haverford with 13 points, while Elefterakis added 11 and Bass posted nine points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.

After Stein scored the game's first basket, Nawrocki hit a jumper and Righter followed with a three-pointer, and the Blue Jays led the rest of the way. The Blue Jays went up by six twice in the half, but the Fords stayed close and trailed by just one at the break.

The Blue Jays return to action with two conference road games this weekend. Hopkins will travel to Muhlenberg Friday at 8 p.m. and to Ursinus Saturday at 1 p.m.

Box Score:            1   2       FHaverford (4-7, 2-3 Centennial)         28  33  -   61Johns Hopkins (9-2, 5-0 Centennial)     29  39  -   68