Jan. 23, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Trailing by nine points with under five minutes to play, Johns Hopkins rallied to within one with 1:10 to play, but could overtake visiting McDaniel in a 59-56 loss in Centennial Conference action Wednesday night. The loss ends Hopkins three-game winning streak as the Blue Jays fall to 9-7 overall and 5-4 in the conference. The Green Terror improve to 11-5 overall and 6-3 in the Centennial.

McDaniel got off to a quick start in the first half, jumping out to a 14-4 lead just under seven minutes in. For the next nine minutes and 21 seconds it was all JHU as the Blue Jays rattled off 18 points while holding the Green Terror to just three free throws. Junior Scott Weisenfeld (Mt. Kisco, NY/Horace-Greeley) drove the paint and then dished to freshman John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) on the baseline for a jumper to kick-start the rally.

Hopkins took its first lead of the game at 18-17 thanks to a jumper from sophomore Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield). Junior Collin Kamm (Avon, NJ/Saint Rose) then hit a pair of back-to-back lay-ups and the Blue Jays were up 22-17. McDaniel answered back, trimming the lead to just one with 28 ticks on the clock after a jumper from Richard Barry. But O'Connell drained a three from the top of the key with just over four seconds remaining to put JHU up 28-24 heading into the half.

The Green Terror came out strong again to start the second half and retook the lead at 15:43. Trailing by two, McDaniel's Brett Foelber drove the baseline and hit a lay-up while getting fouled. With the score tied at 30 apiece, Foelber completed the three-point play to give McDaniel back the lead. O'Connell tied it up again with a free throw, but a lay-up from Kevin Henry put McDaniel up 33-31 and the Green Terror would not trail again.

McDaniel pushed its lead out to nine with 4:56 to play before Hopkins rallied with an 8-0 run with baskets from O'Connell and Weisenfeld and a pair of free throws from senior Kevin Roach (Derwood, MD/Magruder). Up by one with just 1:10 to play, Miguel Jones drove the paint and drew the foul on a lay-up. He hit his free throw and the Green Terror led by four. It would be back and forth for the final 46 seconds as Hopkins would foul McDaniel to stop the clock. The Green Terror went four of four from the line until Jones missed the front end of a pair of free throws. He hit the second and Hopkins trailed by three with 12 seconds to play. The Blue Jays pushed the ball up the floor and called timeout. Coming out of the break, Polster shot from the top of the key, but it rimmed out at the buzzer.

O'Connell went 6-of-8 from the floor and 2-of-5 from the free throw line to finish with a team-high 15 points. He also led the team with eight boards and three steals. Also scoring in double figures was Weisenfeld, who was perfect, going 4-of-4 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line. He also dished five assists and had two steals. Jones led three Green Terror players in double figures with 16 points. JHU outrebounded McDaniel 33-29 and had fewer turnovers (13-14).

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 26 with a match-up with Dickinson. The Centennial Conference game is set to tip at 3:00 pm.