Box Score Feb. 22, 2005
Box Score
LANCASTER, PA - The Blue Jays misfired on a chance to tie the game in the closing moments, as the Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall defeated Johns Hopkins, 74-70 tonight in Centennial Conference men?s basketball action. The Diplomats improve to 19-6 overall and finish the conference schedule with a 14-4 record, while the Blue Jays fall to 14-10 and 11-7.
With a little less than three minutes to go, junior Jeff Thompson (Binghamton, NY/Loomis Chaffee) hit two free throws cutting the Diplomats lead to four at 69-65. After the Blue Jays forced a F&M turnover, freshman Terence Coppola (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) was fouled and converted both of his free throws trimming the Diplomat?s lead to 71-69. Franklin & Marshall increased their lead four again as Brian Teschke sunk a layup. Senior Eric Toback (Elicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) got the Blue Jays to within one, nailing a three to make the score 71-70. The Blue Jays quickly fouled Dan Lynch, but he knocked down both attempts running their lead to 73-70. The Blue Jays misfired on a shot with about 10 seconds left, and Lynch hit one of two free throws to seal the win.
With the Diplomats holding a 62-57 lead with six minutes remaining, Toback nailed threes on back-to-back possessions to give the Blue Jays a 63-62 lead with 5:10 to play. F&M responded, and used a 6-0 run in which Brandon Smith sandwiched a three and a layup around two Logan Outerbridge free throws, which saw the Diplomats take a 69-63 advantage.
Lynch led the way for the Diplomats with 22 points and six rebounds, while Teschke and Smith had 16 and 15 points, respectively. For the Blue Jays, Toback led the way with 21 points, including a 5-8 clip from behind the arc. Sophomore Matt Griffin (Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) just missed his first double-double of the year with 12 points and nine rebounds, while classmate, Danny Nawrocki (Syosset, NY/Chaminade) also missed out on the feat with nine points and 13 rebounds. The nine rebounds for Griffin are a career high. Thompson added career-high 10 points in the loss for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays as a team dominated the boards, collecting 42 rebounds to the Diplomats 26, but turned the ball over 24 times, while Franklin & Marshall only committed eight. As a team JHU shot 48.1% from the floor and 62.5% from long range, their best percentage of the year. The loss in Lancasater for the Blue Jays is their 10th consecutive loss there and 18th in their last 19 trips.
With the loss, the Blue Jays earn the fifth seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference. They Jays will travel to fourth seed Haverford for a first round game on Thursday night. The winner of that game will advance to the semifinals and take on the top seed, Franklin & Marshall in Lancaster on Saturday. Ursinus defeated Muhlenberg today and earned the second seed, while Gettysburg beat Dickinson and is the third seed. The two teams will meet Saturday in the other semifinal at Franklin & Marshall on Saturday. The two semifinal winners will then play Sunday afternoon in Lancaster to determine who will earn the Centennial Conference?s automatic NCAA berth.
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