Feb. 16, 2008

Box Score

ALLENTOWN, PA - Johns Hopkins senior Kevin Roach (Derwood, MD/Colonel Zadok Magruder) punched up a career-high 17 points to lead the Blue Jays to a 61-47 win over the Muhlenberg Mules in Allentown Saturday afternoon. The win clinched the Blue Jays sixth consecutive Centennial Conference playoff appearance. Hopkins improves to 14-9 overall and 10-6 in the conference, while Muhlenberg drops to 10-13 overall and 8-8 in the Centennial.

Ryan Foster powered Muhlenberg early, scoring nine of the Mules first 15 points as they led 15-13 midway through the half. Hopkins came back with back-to-back buckets from Roach and sophomore Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) to take a two-point lead. After O'Connell hit one of two free throws to make it an 18-15 game, Peter Barnes hit a lay-up to trim the Blue Jays lead to just one. Hopkins rallied with six unanswered to push out to a seven-point lead, but Muhlenberg did not go away and answered with a rally of its own. The Mules closed the half with an 8-2 run as the Blue Jays went into the locker room with a 26-25 lead.

The rally continued in the second half for Muhlenberg as Barnes gave the Mules back the lead just 55 seconds in on a bucket in the paint. That lead did not last long as the Blue Jays regrouped. Roach got the team going when he was fouled on a lay-up and converted his free throw to tie the game at 31-31. Junior Collin Kamm (Avon, NJ/St. Rose) got a steal and kissed one off the glass to give the Blue Jays the lead for good. Hopkins was off and running, pushing its lead to double-digits. The closest the Mules would get for the remainder of the game would be seven points.

Roach led three Blue Jays in double figures with his career-high 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Kamm finished with 12 points, while senior Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards) finished with 11. The second half was a different story for the Blue Jays in the battle of the boards. Muhlenberg dominated in the first 20 minutes, outrebounding Hopkins 19-13. In the second half, Hopkins outrebounded the Mules 20-12 and finished with a 33-31 edge for the game. Barnes led the Mules with 14 points.

Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, February 20 with a road trip to rival McDaniel. The Centennial Conference match-up is set to tip at 7:00 pm.