Feb. 19, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

THE WEEK IN REVIEW... Johns Hopkins went 1-1 last week and secured its sixth consecutive berth in the Centennial Conference Playoffs. The Blue Jays lost a tough one to the Gettysburg Bullets on Wednesday before rebounding with a solid win in Allentown against the Muhlenberg Mules.

Gettysburg game out firing in the second half, quickly turning a two-point lead into a 10-point lead. The Bullets shot 59.1 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes as they defeated the Blue Jays 67-56. Four Hopkins players scored in double figures, led by senior captains Kevin Roach and Doug Polster with 12 apiece.

On Saturday, Hopkins won the battle of the boards and forced more turnoves to defeat Muhlenberg 61-47. It was the Blue Jays 14th straight win in Allentown. Roach led the way with a career-high 17 points for Hopkins. The win also punched Hopkins ticket to the Centennial Conference playoffs.

THE WEEK AHEAD... Johns Hopkins wraps up the regular season this week with a trip to McDaniel on Wednesday and a home game against Washington College on Saturday.

The Blue Jays and the Green Terror will meet for the 140th time on Wednesday in a crucial Centennial match-up. The two are currently tied for third in the conference standings. The winner clinches a first round bye in the playoffs. Hopkins holds a slight edge in the series, 70-68-1, which dates back to the 1930-31 season.

Hopkins then hosts Washington College on Senior Day at Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays and the Shoremen are meeting for the third time this season. Hopkins leads the all-time series 64-53 and has won the last six meetings.

SIX IN A ROW... On Saturday, Johns Hopkins clinched its sixth consecutive Centennial Conference playoff berth and 11th overall. Only two other schools in the conference have made 11 or more appearances in the playoffs - Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg. Both schools have made 11 trips and are in the hunt for the fifth and final 2008 playoff spot.

The Blue Jays, the defending Centennial Conference Champions, are 9-8 overall in the playoffs with two titles. In play-in games, Hopkins is 0-2. In the semifinals the Blue Jays are 7-1 and 2-5 in the title game.

COUNTDOWN TO 800... Johns Hopkins needs just four wins to hit the 800-win mark. This is the 83rd season of basketball at Hopkins and the Blue Jays post an all-time record of 796-899-1 (.469).

The Blue Jays also post a Centennial Conference record of 148-70 (.678), ranking second behind Franklin & Marshall (159) for most conference wins.

FIVE AND DIME... The Blue Jays have won three of their last five and seven of the last 10 games. During the last 10 games, Hopkins is averaging 68.7 points while holding opponents to 65.1. The Blue Jays are also winning the battle of the boards and turnovers. Senior Doug Polster, sophomores Andrew Farber-Miller and Pat O'Connell are averaging in double figures in the last 10 outings. Polster is averaging 16.1 points per game.

HITTING THE BOOKS... Senior guard Doug Polster has been rewarded for his work in the classroom. With a double major in psychology and Spanish, Polster boasts a 3.41 cumulative GPA. On February 7, he was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team. He is the third men's basketball player in the last two seasons to earn the honor.

300 AND COUNTING... Johns Hopkins has some outstanding three-point shooters in its history. In fact, JHU has hit atleast one three-pointer in 314 consecutive games. A streak that dates back to February 17, 1996. It is the 11th longest active streak in NCAA Division III. Salisbury holds the record for consecutive games with a three-point basket - 500 - from 1986-2006.

Senior guard Doug Polster had his streak of consecutive games with a trey snapped at 18 in the loss to McDaniel. That streak dated back to February 25, 2007 and was the eighth longest in school history. Polster got back on track just three days later, hitting 4-of-8 from downtown, and he has hit atleast one three-pointer in the last seven games.

T.J. Valerio `07 holds the individual record for consecutive games with a three-pointer. He hit a trey in 35 straight games, a stretch from January 8, 2005 to February 1, 2006.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP... After seeing limited playing time in his rookie season, Andrew Farber-Miller is having a solid sophomore campaign. Last season he played in 13 games, while this season he has played in all 23 games and started the last 19.

Farber-Miller is second on the team with 5.7 boards and third with 9.9 points per game. He's shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 77.5 percent from the free throw line. In the triple-overtime win over Muhlenberg on January 16, Farber-Miller played a school-record 49 minutes, including the final 24 minutes of the game. He's grabbed two double-doubles so far this season. In the last five games, Farber-Miller is averaging 11.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 76.0 percent from the free throw line.

PICKPOCKET... Junior guard Collin Kamm broke a school record in the win against Eastern in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. He had nine steals, including six in the first half, breaking the program single-game record of seven - held by both Dave Wilson (02-05-1986) and Bill Zahn (11-27-1989). Kamm's nine steals are also tied for the third most in Centennial Conference history. For the season, Kamm has a career high 44 steals, just one behind sophomore Pat O'Connell.

As a team, Johns Hopkins had 15 steals in the win over Eastern - the most in a game in exactly seven years. The Blue Jays last had 15 steals in a game on January 5, 2001 in a 67-50 win over New York University.

FREE BASKETBALL... Johns Hopkins played back-to-back overtime games on January 16 and 19, for a total of 25 extra minutes of basketball that week. On the season, the Blue Jays have gone to overtime five times and are 4-1 in those games. JHU lost its first overtime game of the season, 78-74 to Richard Stockton, but has won the last four, including a 64-63 win over Haverford on Saturday. Hopkins last played back-to-back overtime games on November 20 & 23, 1999. That season, the Blue Jays played a school-record six overtime games (3-3).

COACH NELSON... Head coach Bill Nelson, now in his 22nd season with the Blue Jays, is the winningest coach in program history. He posts a 366-208 (.637) record entering this week's action. Nelson ranks second in Centennial Conference history in conference wins (148), conference tournament wins (9) and NCAA Tournament wins (5).

For his career, Nelson's record stands at 471-260 (.644) in 28 seasons. Nelson coached at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College before taking over at Hopkins.

MOVING ON UP... Senior guard Doug Polster is climbing the ranks in the Johns Hopkins record book. On February 9 at Haverford, he broke the school single-season record for three-point attempts and now has 184 this season. Polster enters this week with 351 career three-point attempts and 133 career made three-pointers. Both rank sixth all-time. Averaging 8.0 three-point attempts per game, Polster is on pace to finish the regular season with 200 three-point attempts. He also ranks 20th in JHU history with 152 made free throws.

Also making a move in the Hopkins record book are senior forward Kevin Roach and junior guard Collin Kamm. Roach enters this week with 243 career defensive rebounds and ranking 17th all-time. He also has 47 career blocks, which is good for 16th in school history. Kamm currently ranks 15th all-time with 77 career steals and is just three shy of moving into a tie for 14th all-time.

CHARITY STRIPE... The Blue Jays have six players who are shooting better than 64.0 percent from the charity stripe this season. In fact, four of those six are shooting better than 75.0 percent. Senior Doug Polster leads the team, connecting on 81.3 percent of his shots from the free throw line. As a team, Hopkins ranks fourth in the Centennial with a 71.5 free throw percentage.

In the Blue Jays triple-overtime win against Muhlenberg, the team broke school and Centennial Conference records for free throw attempts (57) and free throws made (46).

COACHES' PICK... The Blue Jays were picked to finish fourth in the Centennial Conference in the coaches' preseason poll. Hopkins received 111 points and was the only team in the top-five to not receive a first place vote. Ursinus is the conference preseason favorite, earning seven first place votes and 137 points.