Jan. 26, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team shot 57.7 percent from the floor to power past Dickinson in a 74-53 win on Saturday afternoon in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays are now 10-7 overall and 6-4 in the conference with their seventh straight win over the Red Devils (8-8, 4-6 CC). Four Blue Jays scored in double figures, led by senior Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards)'s 16 points.

Johns Hopkins came out energized to start the game, taking control early and jumping out to a 9-2 lead capped off by a turnaround three-pointer by Polster as the shot clock expired. The Red Devils answered with a 6-2 run to cut the score to 11-8 with 11:40 to play. From there it was a series of runs, as the Blue Jays would push out and the Red Devils would claw back.

After Dickinson cut the deficit to just two with 6:30 to play after a pair of Timothy Crouch free throws, the Red Devils coach called a timeout. Coming out of the break, Polster and junior Ryan Purcell (Schaumburg, IL/Schaumburg) hit back-to-back threes and the Blue Jays were up eight. The Red Devils could get no closer than five in the first half as Hopkins took a 30-25 lead into the half.

The Red Devils came out strong to start the second, punching up five quick points to knot the score at 30-30. But Hopkins responded with a 19-2, highlighted by a dunk from sophomore Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) on an outlet pass from senior Kevin Roach (Derwood, MD/Magruder). The Blue Jays held the Red Devils without a field goal for more than seven minutes and forced five turnovers. It was all Hopkins from there on out as the home team pushed its lead to as much as 23 late in the game.

Polster, Purcell and Roach combined for six three-pointers, extending Hopkins streak of consecutive games with a three-pointer to 308. Farber-Miller posted his second career double-double, finishing with 12 points and a game-high 10 boards. Roach and sophomore Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) also finished in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively. Tom Leszczynski led the Red Devils with a game-high 17 points. The Blue Jays shot 48.1 percent for the game, while holding the Red Devils to just 35.2 percent.

Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, January 30 with a road trip to Washington College. The Centennial Conference game is set to tip-off at 8:00 pm in Chestertown. Live stats are available at: http://www.washingtoncollegesports.com/livestats/mbasketball/xlive.htm