Jan. 11, 2007

Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Senior Matt Griffin (Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) scored 21 points to lead the #19 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays to a 66-50 win over Ursinus in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays improve to 12-2 overall and 6-1 in conference play. The Bears fall to 8-6 overall and 5-2 in the conference. Griffin scored 20-plus points for the second consecutive game as Hopkins snapped a six-game losing skid in Collegeville.

Hopkins trailed early, but a jumper by Griffin gave the Blue Jays a 12-10 lead at 14:29. Though Ursinus' Nick Shattuck tied the game at 14-14 with a lay-up just over four minutes later, the Blue Jays would not surrender their lead. Hopkins outscored Ursinus 17-9 to end the half, entering the locker room with a 31-23 lead. Junior Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) led Hopkins with nine points at the half, on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range.

The Blue Jays came out of the half and extended their lead to 16 points at the midway point, leading 46-30. Ursinus then went on a 13-5 run, trimming Hopkins' lead to 51-43 with 4:15 to play. Shattuck capped the run with a put back after a missed John Noonan three-pointer. The Blue Jays called a time out and on the ensuing inbounds play, freshman Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) dished the ball to a wide-open Griffin who slammed it home. That dunk ignited the Blue Jays as they outscored the Bears 15-7 to end the game. Eleven of Hopkins' final 15 points came from the free throw line as the Blue Jays went 11-16 from the line in the final 2:31 of the game.

Griffin narrowly missed a double-double as he pulled in nine rebounds to go with his 21 points. The conference leader in field goal percentage, Griffin went 6-of-10 from the floor and 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Polster finished with 13 points and three rebounds. Senior Danny Nawrocki (Syosset, NY/Chaminade) posted his eighth double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. O'Connell finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from the free throw line. O'Connell also had a career-high four assists in the win. Shattuck led the Bears with a game-high 22 points. Also scoring in double figures for Ursinus were Remy Cousart (12 points) and Will Furey (10 points).

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 13 as the Muhlenberg Mules visit Goldfarb Gym. Tip-off for the Centennial Conference match-up is set for 4:00 pm.