Box Score

READING, PA – Seniors Sam Gordon and Gene Williams scored 19 points apiece to lead the Johns Hopkins men's basketball team to a 77-69 win over Alfred in the consolation game of the Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament at Albright College. The Blue Jays improve to 3-5 on the season as Gordon was named to the All-Tournament Team and the Saxons fall to 4-5.

Back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Jesse Flannery and Williams staked Hopkins to a 59-53 lead with 7:44 to play. But Alfred answered with six straight points of its own to tie the game less than two minutes later. The Blue Jays pushed their lead back to six with a 7-1 run, capped by a Nikhil Panu triple from the corner at the 2:58-mark. The Saxons weren't going away however and pulled within three with just 36.8 seconds to play. But Hopkins went 7-of-8 from the free throw line to close out the win.

Hopkins jumped out to a 10-3 lead by the 15:59-mark, thanks in part to three-pointers by Williams and Flannery. Alfred pulled within three just four minutes later as three different players contributed to a 7-4 spurt. The Blue Jays came right back with a 9-2 burst to push out to a 10-point lead at 23-13, sparking a Saxon timeout. Senior Niko Kotoulas bookended the run with a pair of baskets in the paint. Coming out of the timeout, Nigel Herbert drained a pair of free throws to ignite an 18-7 run that saw Alfred take a 31-30 lead by the 2:41-mark. Tyler Seelman punctuated the run with a three-pointer and a pull-up jumper to give the Saxons their first lead of the game.

The teams traded buckets until a three-pointer by Gordon and a pair of free throws by Williams gave Hopkins a 37-33 lead. Alfred closed the half however with a 7-3 spurt to take a 40-39 lead into the lockerroom. Seelman did much of the damage, including a fast-break layup with 6.5 seconds to go that gave the Saxons the lead.

The teams were a little slow coming out of the break as it took until the 16:39-mark for either team to score. Kotoulas finally broke the stalemate with consecutive layups to put Hopkins back on top. Seelman then sandwiched a jumper and a three-pointer around a Gordon free throw to swing the lead back to Alfred's favor with 14:30 to play. Gordon grabbed the lead back for the Blue Jays on the ensuing possession and it turned out they would not trail again. Though Hopkins would not lead by more than six points and Alfred would twice tie it.

A day after scoring a career-high 15 points, Gordon posted his first career double double with 19 points and 11 boards. He also handed out four assists and grabbed two steals in 35 minutes. Williams tied his season-high with 19 points, with 12 of those coming from downtown. Kotoulas also finished in double figures as he chipped in 10 points. Seelman, who also earned All-Tournament Team honors, led all scorers with 23 points. Though the Blue Jays held him to just five points in the second half. Hopkins outrebounded Alfred, 44-26, and grabbed 16 offensive boards for 15 second-chance points.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 2 at the 25th annual Blue Jay Invitational. Hopkins takes on Framingham State at 3:00 pm in Goldfarb Gym.