Feb. 5, 2005

Box Score

CHESTERTOWN, MD - The Shoremen of Washington College outscored the Blue Jays 6-2 in the final 2:14 of the game to pick up a 57-53 win in Centennial Conference basketball action today. The Blue Jays fall to 12-7 overall and 8-4 in conference play, while Washington improves to 9-11 and 6-7.

Hopkins trailed 55-53 with only 12 seconds to go, and brought the ball up with the hopes of picking up the game-winning or game-tying bucket. Sophomore Matt Griffin (Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) was fouled with six seconds remaining, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, and the Shoremen grabbed the rebound. Travis Moore was quickly fouled by JHU, but nailed two free throws to ice the game for the Shoremen.

The Blue Jays clung to a 50-46 advantage with 5:26 to play, but the Shoremen outscored the Blue Jays 11-3 for the remainder of the game to pull out the win. Moore began the run with two free throws, which cut the Blue Jays lead to 50-48 with five minutes remaining. Jonathan Webb then drilled a three to put the Shoremen up 51-50. Sophomore Danny Nawrocki (Syosset, NY/Syosset) hit one free throw to tie the score at 51-51, but Washington countered by hitting four-of-four free throws to go up 55-51. Griffin pulled the Jays to within two with a dunk at the 1:06 mark. Neither team was able to hit any field goals in the final minute, setting up Hopkins' final trip with 12 seconds left.

Leading 6-5, in the early part of the first half, Nawrocki ignited a 9-0 Blue Jay run, which saw JHU run its lead to 15-5 with 10:16 remaining in the first half. Washington was able to chip away at the Blue Jay lead and a jumper from Andrew Gentile with 6:30 to go in the half cut the Blue Jay lead to four at 17-13.

Hopkins responded, as junior Bobby Sharafeddin (Silver Spring, MD/Barrie School) and senior Eric Toback (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) hit threes on back-to-back trips to put the Blue Jays back up 23-13. The Shoremen were able, once again, to chip away at the Blue Jays' lead, as Jonathan Webb scored the final four points of half to cut Hopkins lead to 28-24 going into the locker room.

The Shoremen used a 13-4 run to start the second half and take a 36-32 lead with 13:39 to play. Dustin Abbate picked up eight of the 13 points in the run, including two from behind the arc. The Blue Jays never allowed Washington to increase its lead to more than five in the second half, and went on a 10-2 run which saw them retake the lead. A Nawrocki layup at the 6:40 mark followed by another jumper by Nawrocki put the Blue Jays up 50-46 with 5:26 to go.

Nawrocki lead the way for the Blue Jays with his fifth double-double of the year (15 points and 10 rebounds). Sophomore TJ Valerio (Blue Bell, PA/St. Joseph's) added 11 in the loss for the Blue Jays. Webb lead the Shoremen with 15 points and seven rebounds. Abbate was second in scoring with 11 points.

The Blue Jays will await the outcome of the Franklin & Marshall/Ursinus game to see if they can remain in a tie for first place. A win by F&M would bump the Blue Jays down into a second place tie with Gettysburg who came back to defeat Muhlenberg 56-53 this afternoon in Gettysburg. The Blue Jays will return to action this Wednesday when they travel to McDaniel for a 7:30 pm tip.

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