Jan. 30, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins could not hold on to a late lead and visiting Ursinus rallied to win 74-66 on a snowy afternoon in Baltimore in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays slip to 8-10 overall and 4-7 in the conference while the Bears improve to 13-6 and 9-3 in the Centennial.

Hopkins led 61-60 after a layup by junior John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) with 3:51 to play, but a pair of free throws from Matt Hilton kick started a 14-5 game-ending run for Ursinus as the Bears rallied for the win. Ursinus went 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the final 3:00 minutes to earn the win.

Ursinus jumped out to a 13-4 lead as five different Bears got in the scoring column. Sophomore Sean O'Connor (New Rochelle, NY/Regis) finally got things going for Hopkins, draining a three-pointer to fuel an 11-4 run as the Blue Jays made it a 17-15 game midway through the first half. The Bears responded, pushing their lead back to seven before the Blue Jays began chipping away again.

Trailing 24-17 with 6:22 to play in the half, freshman Mike Rhoads (Huntingdon Valley, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) hit a triple to cut the deficit to four. Junior John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) and senior Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) followed with a pair of buckets and it was a tie game. TJ Jones pushed the Bears back on top with a bucket in the pain, but Alberici tied it back up with a pair from the free throw line. Hopkins then took the lead when O'Connell drove the paint and hit one off the glass with 2:34 to play. Alberici sandwiched four points around free throws from Keith Page and a Hilton layup and Hopkins led 32-30 at the half.

Rhoads opened the scoring with his second bucket from downtown to extend Hopkins' lead to five. The Bears responded with back-to-back triples to trim it to a one-point game. It went back-and-forth from there, as the Blue Jays couldn't extend their lead to more than four. After a Hilton layup gave the Bears a one-point lead with just over five minutes to play, junior Mike Henrici (Wayne, PA/Conestoga) swung it back in Hopkins' favor with a pair from the charity stripe. John Ward and Alberici then traded layups and the Blue Jays led 61-60 with 3:51 on the clock. It would be their last lead of the game as the Bears' solid free throw shooting iced the win.

Alberici finished with a season-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor. Henrici also punched up 14 points as the pair paced the Blue Jays. Rhoads finished with 10 points and a pair of steals. Cousart led Ursinus with a game-high 19 points, while Hilton (17) and Matt Donahue (11) also finished in double figures.

Hopkins shot 42.4 percent from the floor for the day and forced 19 Ursinus turnovers, compared to just 11 for the Blue Jays. The Bears however, shot 62.5 percent for the game and won the rebounding battle, 30-27.

Hopkins continues its four-game homestand on Monday, February 1 as long-time rival McDaniel visits Goldfarb Gym. The Centennial Conference game will tip off at 7:00 pm.