Jan. 2, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins used a 10-0 in the closing two minutes of overtime to beat visiting Mary Washington, 77-69, Saturday afternoon in the first round of the Blue Jay Invitational. The win pushes the Blue Jays to 5-3 on the season while the Eagles fall to 4-5. Senior Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) led four Blue Jays in double figures with 19 points.

Trailing by two with 2:16 to play in overtime after a Bart Reese three-pointer, sophomore Tim McCarty (Warrington, PA/Germantown Academy) drove the lane and hit a layup to knot the score at 69-69. That bucket ignited the Blue Jays' 10-0 game-ending run. Hopkins sealed the win at the free throw line, making five of six shots from the charity stripe, while forcing four missed Eagles' baskets.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw five lead changes and three ties. With the score tied at 10-10 after an Eric Rolander layup for the Eagles, sophomores Danny Gergen (Austin, TX/Anderson) and Sean O'Connor (New Rochelle, NY/Regis) sandwiched triples around a bucket from Rolander and the Blue Jays led 16-12. A pair of Brandon Altmann free throws was answered by a layup from junior John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep). Ryan Farra hit one from deep to cut the lead back to one at 18-17 but it was answered by a three from O'Connell - the first of his three on the afternoon.

Rolander hit another layup for the Eagles, kick-starting a 10-4 run as Mary Washington took a 27-25 lead with 4:16 to play in the first half. Reese capped the run with another three-pointer. Junior Mike Henrici (Wayne, PA/Conestoga) scored six straight points for the Blue Jays to end the half, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Eagles as UMW took a 32-31 lead into the locker room.

Coming out of the break, Rolander drained a jumper to push Mary Washington's lead to three at 34-31. Hopkins responded with an 11-3 run, with O'Connell accounting for all 11 points - including two three-pointers and an old-fashioned three-point play. The Eagles responded with a run of their own, cutting the deficit to one at 44-43 with 9:31 remaining. Hopkins maintained its lead, pushing out to as much as eight with just over three minutes to play before Mary Washington began chipping away.

The Eagles closed the second half on a 10-2 run, fueled by seven points from Altmann to tie the game at 62-62 and force overtime. Altmann hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining to make it a 62-62 game. Hopkins brought the ball up the court and called timeout with eight ticks on the clock to set up one final play. O'Connell got the call but his shot with four seconds hit the rim.

Altmann opened the overtime period with a lay-up, giving him 24 points on the day and 1,000 for his career. Freshman Mike Rhoads (Huntingdon Valley, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) responded with a triple, his fifth on the day before a pair of Henrici free throws gave Hopkins a 67-64 lead. The Eagles answered with five quick points from Rolander and Reese, setting up the Blue Jays late run.

O'Connell finished with 19 points, while Rhoads punched up a career-high 15 points. Gergen (12 points) and Henrici also finished in double figures. Altmann led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Rolander posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards.

Hopkins just edged Mary Washington on the boards, grabbing 39 rebounds to UMW's 36. The Blue Jays also shot 40.6 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent from downtown, and 81.3 percent from the line. The Blue Jays poured in 12 three-pointers, one shy of the Blue Jay Invitational record and the most for the Blue Jays since they hit 13 on November 20, 2004 against Keystone. Mary Washington shot 46.4 percent from the field, but was just 62.5 percent from the free throw line.

Hopkins will play Baruch in the Blue Jay Invitational Championship game Sunday at 3:00 pm. Baruch defeated Kean, 73-65 in the opening game Saturday. Mary Washington and Kean will face off in the consolation game at 1:00 pm.