Box Score

SWARTHMORE, PA – The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team held off host Swarthmore by scoring the final eight points of the game in a 62-53 win over the Garnet Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays improve to 9-9 overall and 6-5 in the Centennial, while the Garnet fall to 15-4 on the season and 9-3 in the CC. Hopkins sweeps the season series with Swarthmore, which is tied for second in the league standings.

Senior Niko Kotoulas went one-of-two from the line with 3:35 left in the game to put Hopkins on top 54-50. But the Garnet weren't going away as they scored the next three points, all from the line, to pull within one with 1:47 still to play. Senior Matt Billups then got open under the basket for a layup to push the Blue Jays' lead back to three. Swarthmore couldn't convert on the other end and senior Sam Gordon put back a Jesse Flannery miss with 41 ticks on the clock to make it a five-point game.

Matt Brennan missed on a three-pointer on the other end and sophomore Jesse Flannery was fouled on the rebound. He sank both of his shots from the charity stripe with 27 seconds to play. The Garnet turned it over on their ensuing possession and then sent senior Gene Williams to the line, where he hit both his shots to seal the win.

Sam Lebryk put Swarthmore on the board to open the game, hitting a bucket from downtown. Gordon answered with a layup on the other end, sparking a quick 8-0 Hopkins spurt. Shane Loeffler ended the run with a triple, pulling the Garnet within two at the 15:47-mark. Hopkins came right back with a 13-2 run that saw the Blue Jays build a 21-8 lead with 8:04 to go in the half. Five different player scored during the run for the Jays, and Billups capped it with back-to-back buckets in the paint.

Swarthmore answered with seven straight points to cut the deficit to just six by the 5:50-mark. A jumper from freshman Michael Gardner sparked a 10-2 run for Hopkins, punctuated with a three from Williams, to give the Blue Jays a 14-point lead. A three-point play by Christian Rhodes cut the lead to 11 with 90 seconds on the clock, but Flannery pushed it back to 13 at the half with a pair of free throws.

Hopkins maintained its double-digit lead for the first six minutes of the half. Swarthmore used a 13-2 run that spanned four minutes to pull within three. Robbie Walsh sandwiched a pair of layups around two free throws from Zack Yonda to get the run going for the Garnet. Henry Cousineau scored at the 10:48-mark to make it a 43-40 game. Kotoulas answered for the Blue Jays, hitting a layup and then draining a three to pus the lead back to eight. It was short-lived however as two Brennan free throws and a Lebryk three once again made it a three-point game. The lead seesawed up and down and Hopkins led 54-50 with 3:35 to go following a Kotoulas free throw.

For the second straight game, Hopkins had five players finish in double figures. Williams led the way for the Blue Jays with a game-high 13 points, while Gordon and Kotoulas put up 11 each. Billups posted his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards and Curran also chipped in 10 points. Rhodes led the Garnet with 11 points, while Cousineau had a game-high 11 rebounds.

Hopkins returns to action on Tuesday, February 2 as Gettysburg visits Baltimore. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 pm at Goldfarb Gym.