Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

HAVERFORD, PA - In a game that featured 18 lead changes and 14 ties, it was a Scott Weisenfeld jumper, his first basket of the game, that proved to be the difference in a 64-63 win for the Johns Hopkins men's basketball team against Haverford Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays, who forced overtime with a three-pointer late in regulation, improve to 13-8 overall and 9-5 in the Centennial Conference with the win. Haverford slips to 5-15 overall and 3-11 in the league. The win is the fourth straight for the Blue Jays in overtime this season.

The five-minute overtime period played out exactly like regulation as there were three ties and three lead changes in the extra session. A Chaz Thomas layup with 1:24 remaining in overtime gave the Fords a 62-60 lead, but junior Collin Kamm answered with a layup 25 seconds later to force what would be the final tie of the game. After consecutive turnovers, Thomas hit one-of-two from the line with 13 seconds remaining and Weisenfeld drained the game-winner nine seconds later. A Mike Fratangelo three-pointer at the buzzer was off the mark to seal the win for the Blue Jays.

Neither team led by more than five in a back-and-forth first half. A three-pointer by Haverford's Matt Palmer gave the Fords a 25-20 lead with 5:20 remaining, but the Blue Jays closed the first half by scoring 11 of the final 17 points to forge a 31-31 tie at intermission. Sophomore Andrew Farber-Miller fueled the spree with five points and sophomore Pat O'Connell drained a pair of free throws in the final minute to tie it up.

Hopkins built a game-high six-point lead in the first six minutes of the second half with Farber-Miller scoring six of the first 10 points for the Blue Jays as they built a 41-35 lead. The Fords answered with a 7-0 run of their own. Thomas ignited the run with a three pointer and closed the run with a jumper to make it 42-41 12:26 remaining.

Neither team led by more than three over the next eight minutes and a three-pointer by senior Doug Polster gave the Blue Jays a 52-50 lead with 4:18 remaining. The Fords answered with five straight points to a take a 55-52 lead with just over two minutes left in regulation. A Thomas layup gave the Fords the three-point lead and Haveford extended JHU's scoreless run to nearly four minutes before Polster nailed his fourth three-pointer of the game with 35 seconds left on the clock. Thomas then turned the ball over with four seconds remaining and Kamm missed a layup at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

Farber-Miller scored a team-high 21 points and added six rebounds to lead the Blue Jays offensively. Polster added 16 points and all eight players who appeared in the game scored for Hopkins, which held a 32-29 rebounding advantage and hit 11-of-13 from the line.

Thomas matched Farber-Miller with 21 points and added six rebounds and five steals to lead the way for Haverford. Fratangelo added 12 points for Haverford.

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