Jan. 9, 2008

Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, PA - A late second half rally fell just short Wednesday night as the Johns Hopkins men's basketball team fell 62-57 to Ursinus in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays fall to 6-6 on the year with a 2-3 mark in the conference, while the Bears are 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Junior guard Collin Kamm (Avon, NJ/Saint Rose) poured in a career-high 17 points in the loss.

Hopkins took an early 2-0 lead after a pair of free throws from senior Kevin Roach (Derwood, MD/Colonel Zadok Magruder) but it was all Ursinus for the remainder of the half as the home team built up a double-digit lead. Nick Shattuck gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 16:43 on a jumper in the paint, the Bears would hold that lead until the end. After a Shattuck dunk made it 6-2, Kamm answered with a lay-up to cut it to two. Ursinus responded with a 13-2 run and led 19-6 with 6:50 to play in the half.

The Bears held its double-digit lead for the next four minutes as the Blue Jays hung around. Trailing by 13 with 3:02 to play, Hopkins rallied with a trey from senior Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) and a pair of buckets from sophomore Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) and freshman John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep). But three in the closing minute of the half made it a 28-18 game heading into the locker room.

After shooting just 28 percent from the floor in the first half, the Blue Jays came out firing in the second half. Polster hit another three just 30 seconds in as Hopkins rattled off a 14-8 run to make it just a two-point game at 34-32. Kamm hit three straight lay-ups followed by another three from Polster to make the comeback. Kamm then stole the ball from Kevin McGarvey but the Blue Jays could not convert on the ensuing possession to tie the game.

The Bears answered with a rally of their own, getting three straight buckets from downtown from Keith Page and Matt Hilton to push back to a nine-point lead. Ursinus maintained its pressure and pushed its lead to as many as 11 points. But the Blue Jays had one more run in them. Trailing 52-41 with less than seven minutes to play, Alberici and O'Connell sandwiched a pair of three-point plays around two Shattuck free throws and the Blue Jays were off on a 15-6 run. Polster and Kamm combined for Hopkins' next nine points, including a trey from Polster with 1:49 to play to make it a 58-56 game. That would be all for the Blue Jays though as the Bears hit would hit four of their last six from the free throw line to hold on for the win.

Kamm's 17 points were a game-high as he also tied his career-high with seven boards. Polster punched up for 14 points as the only other Blue Jay in double-digits. Sophomore Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) grabbed a career and game-high 11 boards as the Blue Jays outrebounded the Bears 50-36. Free throw shooting proved to be the difference in the game as Hopkins went 9-of-19 from the line while Ursinus went 18-of-25. Hilton led for Bears in double figures with 15 points.

Hopkins returns to action on Satuday, January 12 when the Haverford Fords visit Goldfarb Gym. The Centennial Conference game is set to tip at 3:00 pm.