Feb. 17, 2007

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The #24 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays topped the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats 84-68 on senior day Saturday afternoon. The win was the 21st this season for Hopkins, tying the school single-season record. Hopkins is now 21-4 overall and 15-3 in the Centennial and will host the Centennial Conference championship next weekend. Franklin & Marshall falls to 8-17 overall and 7-11 in the conference. The five Blue Jay seniors combined for 64 of the team's 84 points.

Hopkins trailed from the start as Franklin & Marshall outscored the home team 5-2 in the opening minute of the game. Senior Matt Griffin (Glen Mills, PA/Penncrest) converted a lay-up at 17:05 igniting a 17-0 run as the Blue Jays took a commanding 19-5 lead. Hopkins maintained its double-digit lead, pushing it to as much as 17 points, until the final two minutes of the half. Trailing 35-19 after a three-point play by senior Danny Nawrocki (Syosset, NY/Chaminade), Logan Outerbridge drained a trey for the Diplomats. That bucket started a 10-2 run for Franklin & Marshall as the Dips trimmed Hopkins lead to just eight points with 44 seconds to play in the half. Nawrocki was good on a jumper to push it back to 10 with 12 ticks on the clock, but Pat Przybylowski hit on a lay-up at the buzzer off an inbounds pass to make it 39-31 at the half. Hopkins shot 66.7 percent from the floor while holding Franklin & Marshall to 38.7 percent.

Griffin hit two free throws to start the half as the Blue Jays opened on a quick 8-0 run, pushing out to a 47-31 lead. The Diplomats called a timeout to regroup. Coming out of the break, Adam Leonard hit a jumper coming out of the break starting a 16-2 Diplomats' run. After another jumper from Leonard with 12:07 to play cut the Jays lead to just two points. Andrew McCaffrey was called for a blocking foul on the ensuing Hopkins inbound pass and then was given a technical. The Blue Jays converted three of the four free throws to push back to a five-point lead.

Derek Hines answered with a lay-up for the Dips, cutting the lead back to three points. A lay-up by senior Zack Armen (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset) and a trey from junior Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) started a 9-4 Hopkins run. With the Blue Jays leading 63-53, Outerbridge hit a lay-up with 7:17 to play but that's as close as the Dips would get. Hopkins would outscore Franklin & Marshall 21-15 in the final seven minutes, including going 13-of-14 from the free throw line.

Since 2002 on senior day, the Hopkins men's basketball team honors the memories of former Blue Jays Glen Wall and Matt O'Mahony. The duo, teammates and best friends on the Hopkins men's basketball team, were killed in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001. An MVP is named from each team following the conclusion of the game. Griffin finished with a game-high 30 points, just one shy of his career high, to earn game MVP honors for the Blue Jays. Outerbridge led the Diplomats with 22 points and was named the F&M MVP.

Nawrocki finished with his 34th career double-double, punching up 14 points and grabbing 12 boards. Senior T.J. Valerio (Blue Bell, PA/St. Joseph's Prep) finished with 11 points, while Armen had five and senior Chris Morley (North Salem, NY/North Salem) posted four. Leonard scored 19 points for the Diplomats in the loss. Hopkins finished the game shooting 58.5 percent from the floor and 86.1 percent from the charity stripe. Franklin & Marshall was held to just 37.9 percent shooting.

The Blue Jays return to action on Saturday in the Centennial Conference semifinals at Goldfarb Gym. Hopkins will play the winner of Wednesday's game between the number four and five seeds. Ursinus and Haverford will meet in the other semifinal game. Stay tuned to www.HopkinsSports.com for game times and match-ups.