Dec. 4, 2010

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BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins rallied from six down in the final three minutes to defeat visiting Dickinson, 61-60, on Saturday in the Blue Jays' home-opener. Hopkins picks up its second win and snaps a three-game skid to improve to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Centennial Conference. Dickinson slips to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the conference after suffering its first league loss of the year. The win was also the 499th of head coach Bill Nelson's career.

Trailing by seven with 3:58 to play following a Chris Barsanti fast break layup, the Blue Jays would close out the game on a 10-2 run to take the come-from-behind win. Senior John Alberici cut the deficit to four with an old-fashioned three-point play, but a layup from Matt Dolan pushed the lead back to six at 2:59. That would be the Red Devils' final bucket of the day as the Blue Jays' defense forced three turnovers and then got a block on a last-second shot to earn the win. Senior Mike Henrici answered Dolan's bucket with one of his own to make it a 60-56 game with 2:42 on the clock.

Dickinson turned the ball over on its next possession and Hopkins capitalized when freshman Daniel Corbett found Alberici in the paint for two. Corbett then stole the ball from Dolan and fed sophomore Adam Spengler for the fast break layup. Spengler was fouled on the bucket and drained his shot from the line to give Hopkins a 61-60 lead with 1:26 to play. Next Dickinson possession, it was Corbett again with a steal but this time the Blue Jays couldn't convert and the Red Devils got the ball back with 22 seconds on the clock. Dickinson worked the ball to Pat Kearns on the right side, but as he pulled up for the jumper, Alberici swatted his shot out of bounds as time expired.

The game was back-and-forth from the opening tip as the lead changed hands nine times with 16 ties over the course of the game. However, Dickinson led for most of the first half, thanks in part to 11 first-half points from Dolan. Kearns gave the Red Devils a two-point lead at 5:21 after sinking a pair of free throws to make it a 20-18 game. The Blue Jays responded with a 9-2 run kicked off by a three-pointer from Corbett as they pushed out to a 27-22 lead with 2:39 on the clock. Barsanti hit a bucket in the paint, followed by an Adam Honig layup and the lead was down to one. Henrici hit the second of two free throws with 14 seconds left in the half to send Hopkins into the break with a 28-26 lead.

Hopkins maintained its lead until a Dolan three-pointer at 16:05 gave Dickinson its first lead since 5:21 in the first. The Red Devils couldn't pull away however, as the Blue Jays tied the game four times over the next three minutes before taking a one-point lead on an Aleksandar Nikolic free throw. A three-point play from Tucker Landy swung the lead back to Dickinson however, but not for long. A pair of Alberici buckets gave Hopkins a 49-47 lead with 9:01 on the clock. But as was the case for most of the second half, the Blue Jays' lead didn't last long. Dickinson came back with two free throws from Kearns, followed by a bucket from downtown for Chris Heine and the Red Devils led 52-49. Dickinson pushed its lead to seven before Hopkins rallied for the win.

Alberici led Hopkins with 14 points and four blocks, including one on Kearns' last second shot that preserved the win. Henrici was the only other Blue Jay in double digits with 11 points. Corbett had a career high nine points, all from three-point range, and three assists to go along with two steals. Dolan led all scorers with a game-high 24 points for the Red Devils. Though the league's leading rebounder, averaging 10.3 boards per game, was held to just five rebounds for the game. Dickinson outrebounded Hopkins, 31-27, and went an impressive 17-of-18 from the free throw line. Hopkins shot 43.2 percent from the field, compared to 40.0 percent for Dickinson.

Hopkins returns to action on Tuesday, December 7 as McDaniel visits Goldfarb Gym. Tip-off for the Centennial Conference match-up is slated for 7:00 pm.