Feb. 1, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Junior John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) tied his career-high with 17 points and four Blue Jays finished in double figures as Johns Hopkins held on for a 65-58 win over rival McDaniel Monday night in Centennial Conference action at Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays snap a four-game losing skid as they improve to 9-10 overall and 5-7 in the conference. The Green Terror slip to 8-11 overall and 4-8 in the conference.

Trailing 56-55 with 3:22 to play after a Miguel Jones' layup, Alberici converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Blue Jays a two-point lead. Michael Jarboe hit a jumper just eight seconds later, McDaniel's last bucket of the game, to knot the game at 58-58. Senior Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) was then fouled and went to the line for two with 44 seconds to play. He hit the front-end, giving Hopkins a one-point lead. O'Connell missed the second, but Alberici grabbed the rebound and the Blue Jays called timeout. Hopkins went 6-of-6 from the line while McDaniel missed three field goals in the final 36 seconds as Hopkins held on for the win.

Hopkins jumped out to a 10-3 lead less than five minutes in, fueled by eight points from Alberici and junior Mike Henrici (Wayne, PA/Conestoga). McDaniel answered with a 12-4 run that spanned four minutes as the Green Terror took a 15-14 lead on the strength of 10 points from Jarboe.

A pair of jumpers from O'Connell and the Blue Jays led again, 18-15. McDaniel answered, as layups from Joseph Potucek and Jarboe swung the lead back in the visitor's favor and ignited a 12-4 run. Trailing 29-22 after a Marcus Dyson jumper in the paint at 5:13, the Blue Jays called timeout. Coming out of the timeout, sophomore Tim McCarty (Warrington, PA/Germantown Academy) drained a triple from the top of the key to trim the deficit to four. The teams traded buckets and McDaniel led 33-27 with just over three minutes remaining.

Henrici hit a 15-foot jumper off an O'Connell pass from the baseline and the deficit was down to four. McDaniel couldn't convert on its next possession and senior Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) controlled the rebound, giving Hopkins possession with 35 seconds to play. O'Connell found an open Danny Gergen (Austin, TX/Anderson) in the corner and the sophomore drained a triple to make it a one-point game. McCarty then intercepted Steve Wilson's inbounds pass and laid it off the glass at the buzzer to give Hopkins a 34-33 lead at the half.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair that saw five ties and 18 lead changes. Neither team was able to gain more than a three-point lead until Hopkins pushed its lead to seven in the closing seconds. After an Adam Spengler (Colts Neck, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) three-pointer from the corner gave Hopkins a 43-41 lead with 12:40 to play, Jones answered with a triple for McDaniel to swing the lead back to the Green Terror. Wilson then hit a bucket in the paint to push the lead to three for McDaniel.

McCarty hit the back-end of a pair of free throws and Gergen hit his second triple of the day and the lead was back to Hopkins. But it didn't last long. The teams continued to go back-and-forth until O'Connell hit the front-end of a pair of free throws with 44 ticks on the clock setting up the Blue Jays' game-ending run.

Alberici finished 6-of-8 from the field and 5-of-5 from the line for a team and career-high-tying 17 points. He also tied his career-high with five rebounds. Henrici chipped in 14 points and a game-high seven rebounds, while O'Connell (11) and McCarty (10) also finished in double figures. O'Connell also dished a game-high four assists, giving him 210 for his career and moving him into 13th place all-time in JHU history. Jarboe paced the Green Terror with a game-high 20 points, while Jones also finished in double figures with 11 points.

Hopkins shot 54.8 percent from the field for the game, including 58.3 percent in the first half. McDaniel finished at a 48.9 percent clip after shooting 50.0 percent in the first half. It is the first time the Blue Jays have shot better than 50.0 percent for the game since shooting 58.3 percent against Pitt-Bradford on December 29, 2009. The win was also Hopkins' 75th in the series with McDaniel, which dates back to January 20, 1931.

Hopkins returns to action and closes out a four-game homestand on Wednesday, February 3 as Gettysburg visits Goldfarb Gym. The Centennial Conference matchup is slated to tip at 8:00 pm.