Jan. 6, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Muhlenberg men's basketball team rallied from a five-point deficit in the final 90 seconds of regulation to force overtime where the Mules beat host Johns Hopkins, 65-57, in Centennial Conference action Wednesday night. The Blue Jays drop their second straight and fall to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference, while the Mules improve to 6-4 overall and remain unbeaten at 4-0 in conference play.

Trailing by five with 90 seconds to play after a John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) jumper, Muhlenberg came down the court and Ryan Foster drained one from downtown to cut the deficit to two. Sophomore Sean O'Connor (New Rochelle, NY/Regis)'s attempt from deep on the Blue Jays' next possession hit the rim and Spencer Liddic corralled the rebound. The Mules called timeout and Liddic converted a layup with nine seconds left to tie the game at 55-55. Hopkins brought the ball up the floor and called timeout with three seconds on the clock. Coming out of the timeout, Alberici's shot as time expired clanged off the rim and the teams were headed to overtime.

Junior Mike Henrici (Wayne, PA/Conestoga) gave the Blue Jays a two-point lead with just over three minutes to play in the extra period after a steal by senior Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield). Brian Frankoski answered with a bucket in the paint and ignited a 10-0 game-ending run as they held the Blue Jays to just 1-of-8 shooting in the overtime.

Midway through the first half, Hopkins turned a one-point lead into a nine-point advantage midway as four different players scored during an 8-0 run. The Mules came back with a 7-1 run of their own, trimming the deficit to three with 3:41 to play. A triple from freshman Mike Rhoads (Huntingdon Valley, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) and a Tim McCarty (Warrington, PA/Germantown Academy) layup and the lead was back to eight. Ryan Foster would hit one from long range to make it a five-point game at 25-20 at the half.

Muhlenberg picked up where it left off at the half, needing just over two minutes into the second to take the lead. A pair of back-to-back baskets from Peter Barnes fueled a Mules' rally that gave the visitors a 34-26 lead with just over 14 minutes to play in the half. Hopkins kept chipping away at the deficit and finally took the lead back on an Alberici layup with 4:37 to play.

Henrici pushed the Blue Jays lead to four with a pair of layups before Foster hit another triple to cut it back to one. Freshman Adam Spengler (Colts Neck, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) then drove the paint on the Blue Jays' ensuing possession and laid it in for two. After a missed Mules' shot on the opposite end, Alberici hit a baseline jumper to put the Blue Jays up five with 90 seconds on the clock.

Henrici led three Blue Jays in double figures with 12 points, while McCarty and sophomore Danny Gergen (Austin, TX/Anderson) each had 10 points. Farber-Miller, who was seeing his first action in nearly a month, led the team with five rebounds. Foster led Mules with 18 points, while Barnes posted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 9 as the Blue Jays travel to Collegeville, PA to take on Ursinus. Game time for the Centennial Conference tilt is slated for 1:00 pm.