Box Score Jan. 29, 2005
Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD - Freshman Terence Coppola (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) nailed a runner in the lane with seven seconds remaining to lift Johns Hopkins to a 63-61 win over visiting Muhlenberg Saturday afternoon. With the win the Blue Jays improve to 11-6 overall, and 8-3 in the Centennial Conference, while the Mules fall to 8-10 and 5-6 in conference play. The Blue Jays also move back into a tie for first place with Gettysburg and Franklin & Marshall.
Coppola?s game-winner was set up moments earlier by a miraculous shot by sophomore TJ Valerio (Blue Bell, PA/St. Joseph?s Prep). Valerio collected a pass from senior Eric Toback (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron), eluded a defender, and nailed a three-pointer and was fouled. Valerio missed the free throw, but Toback grabbed the offensive rebound, which led to Coppola?s game-winning basket. Chase Licata threw up a desperation shot for Muhlenberg, but was unsuccessful in the last seconds.
Muhlenberg had turned a 58-57 deficit into a 61-58 lead as a basket by Jimmy O?Brien and two free throws by Jeff Stewart gave the Mules some breathing room in the final minutes. However, Valerio hit his three pointer just 12 seconds after Stewart?s free throws and Coppola?s game-winner came shortly after.
A back-and-forth first half saw six lead-changes and two ties. After Toback opened the scoring with a layup, the Mules went on a 10-2 run, which saw four different Mules take part in the scoring. Hopkins ended the Muhlenberg run with a jumper from junior Jeff Thompson (Binghamton, NY/Loomis Chaffee) a defensive stop and a three from Toback. Chris Potheri then sandwiched a pair of threes around two free throws by Toback to give the Mules their largest lead of the half at 18-11.
Hopkins chipped away at the Muhlenberg lead and a layup by Thompson at the 3:53 mark gave JHU a 28-27 lead. Toback hit a jumper with a shade over three minutes remaining in the half to run the Blue Jay lead to three at 30-27, their largest lead in the half. After Stewart hit a jumper on the next trip for Muhlenberg, JHU junior Bobby Sharafeddin (Silver Spring, MD/Barrie School) hit a pair of free throws to give the Blue Jays a 32-29 lead going into the locker room.
An early 8-0 run by the Mules in the second half turned the 32-29 deficit into a 37-34 lead, but back-to-back threes by Valerio and Toback ignited a 10-0 Hopkins run to give JHU a 44-37 lead. .
The Mules jumped back inot the lead with a 12-0 run that was fueled by three-pointers from Ponteri and Tom Scott. The run gave Muhlenberg a 50-46 lead. That set the stage for the wild finish.
Toback was the game?s leading scorer with 19 points, and led the Blue Jays with eight rebounds. For Muhlenberg, Stewart collected his league-leading 11th double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Valerio had 11 points for JHU, the fourth straight game he has scored at least 10.
The two-point win for JHU is its the seventh in its last eight games, that has seen the margin of victory be less than five. The Blue Jays are 5-2 in the seven games. This is also the second win for JHU over Muhelnberg on the year. Earlier, the Blue Jays defeated the Mules, 60-59 in Allentown, a game that also was decided in the closing moments.
The Fords of Haverford defeated Gettysburg, 89-75, and Franklin & Marshall defeated Swarthmore 67-47, running each?s Centennial record to 8-3, and into a three-way tie with JHU for first place in the Centennial Conference.
The Blue Jays will return to action this Wednesday when they play host to the Garnet Tide of Swarthmore. Tip is set for 7 pm.
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