Jan. 16, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team scored 16 points in the third overtime to defeat visiting Muhlenberg 100-91 on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference action. For the Blue Jays it was the first triple overtime game since a 94-91 loss at Loyola (MD) on January 21, 1967 and just the second ever in program history. Three Blue Jays scored more than 20 points as Hopkins improved to 8-6 overall and 4-3 in the Centennial.

Muhlenberg forced the second overtime after Chris MacIntosh lobbed an inbounds pass up to Mike Bernardini who tipped it in to tie the game at 73-73 with less than one second on the clock. The Mules then jumped out to an 80-73 lead in the second overtime but the Blue Jays battled back as senior guard Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) nailed a three from the top of the key with 12 seconds remaining to force a third overtime. It was all Hopkins from then on out as sophomore forward Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) hit a lay-up with 4:10 to play giving the Blue Jays a lead they would not relinquish. JHU outscored Muhlenberg 16-7 in the final overtime period.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with 11 lead changes and five ties. Trailing 30-28 with 2:37 to play after a Brian Frankoski three, Polster hit a lay-up in the paint to tie the game. He then gave JHU a three-point lead with his first three-point bucket of the night before Tim Murray hit a jumper to make it a 33-32 game at the half.

Hopkins pushed out to a nine-point lead to start the second half and would maintain its lead until a three-pointer from Darrell Roth with just 18 ticks on the clock tied it up and forced the first overtime with the score knotted at 66-66. The Mules took their first lead since 2:37 left in the first half when Bernardini got fouled on a lay-up and hit the free throw for an old-fashioned three-point play. Sophomore guard Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) then hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 71-71. Polster then stole the ball to give the Blue Jays back possession with 45 seconds remaining. With the shot clock winding down, O'Connell drove the baseline and kissed the ball off the glass with just nine seconds left to give JHU a 73-71 lead.

On the Mules ensuing possession, Frankoski lost the ball out bounds with just 2.5 seconds remaining, giving the Blue Jays the ball under the Muhlenberg basket. However, O'Connell traveled on the inbounds pass, turning the ball back over to Muhlenberg and setting up MacIntosh's inbounds pass to Bernardini and the second overtime.

Polster and Farber-Miller each posted career highs in the win. Polster went for 28 points, including 11-of-13 from the free throw line and 5-of-8 from downtown. Farber-Miller posted his first career double-double with 26 points and 12 boards. He shot 14-of-18 from the free throw line. O'Connell punched up 20 points, just two shy of his career-high, while Bernardini led all scorers with 32 points on the night. Senior forward Kevin Roach (Derwood, MD/Magruder) had a career-high five blocks in the win, just two shy of the school record.

The Blue Jays shot 46-of-57 from the free throw line, both school records. The teams combined for 18 three pointers, as the Mules shot 43.5 percent and the Blue Jays shot 61.5 percent from three-point range.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 19 with a road trip to Swarthmore. The Centennial Conference tilt is set to tip off at 4:00 pm.