Feb. 3, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Gettysburg pulled away late in the second half en route to a 72-65 win over host Johns Hopkins in a game that saw the two teams combine to shoot 58.3 percent from the field. The Blue Jays, who conclude a four-game homestand, slipped to 9-11 overall and 5-8 in the Centennial Conference. The Bullets snapped a three-game losing skid to improve to 10-9 on the season, including an 8-5 mark in the conference.

Leading by four at 53-47, Alex Zurn connected on a pair from the free throw line, to ignite a 12-5 run as the Bullets pushed out to a 65-52 lead with 5:35 remaining in the second. Zurn and Andrew Powers fueled the run, scoring 12 of Gettysburg's 14 points. The Blue Jays tried to climb back in it, holding the Bullets to just one field goal in the final five minutes, but only made three themselves. Gettysburg made five free throws in the final 2:16 to help seal the win.

The first half was back-and-forth as there were four ties and three lead changes. The Bullets came out firing, jumping out to a 21-8 lead just seven minutes in, on the strength of nine three-pointers from Brendan Trelease. After Trelease hit his third triple of the game, Hopkins called timeout to regroup. Coming out the timeout, junior Mike Henrici (Wayne, PA/Conestoga) hit an 18-foot jumper to ignite a 26-11 Blue Jay run. Seniors Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) and Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) combined for 15 of the Blue Jays' 26 points during the run, including seven from the charity stripe and a dunk for Farber-Miller. Sophomore Tim McCarty (Warrington, PA/Germantown Academy) punctuated the run with a bucket in the paint and gave Hopkins its first lead of the game at 34-32 with 2:16.

The Bullets answered with a quick 7-0 run to take a 39-34 lead with just 18 ticks on the clock. Hopkins took possession looking to get one shot off before the half. Freshman Mike Rhoads (Huntingdon Valley, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) found Farber-Miller in the paint and he laid it in at the buzzer to make it a 39-36 game. Gettysburg came out firing in the second half, pushing out to a seven-point lead with Powers and Zurn doing the bulk of the work. A three-pointer from O'Connell with 13:17 to play made it a four-point game at 49-45. Powers came back with a layup and a pair of free throws sandwiched around a circus-shot layup from sophomore Sean O'Connor (New Rochelle, NY/Regis) to make it a 53-47 game.

O'Connell led the Blue Jays with a season-high 20 points, his fourth career 20-point game. He also dished out three assists and had two steals. His three assists push him into 12th place in school history, while his steals give him 161 for his career and leave him 20 shy of tying the program's all-time record. Farber-Miller punched up 15 points, while Henrici finished with 10 points for his third consecutive game in double digits. Powers paced the Bullets with a game-high 26 points, while Zurn punched up 20 and Trelease had 12, all in the first half.

Hopkins finished at an even 50.0 percent shooting for the night, including a season-best 65.0 percent clip for the first half. This was the second straight game that the Blue Jays shot at least 50.0 percent from the field. Gettysburg did one better, shooting 69.4 percent for the game, 77.8 percent in the first and 61.1 percent in the second. The two teams also combined to go 31-of-34 (91.2 percent) from the free throw line. The Bullets are the first team to shoot better then 65.0 percent for a game against Hopkins since Ursinus shot 69.2 percent on January 31, 2009.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, February 6 at Swarthmore. The Centennial Conference matchup is slated to tip at 3:00 pm. With inclement weather due to hit the Mid-Altantic region this weekend, stay tuned to HopkinsSports.com for updates on Saturday's game.