Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Matt Righter
led four players in double figures with 15 points as Johns
Hopkins went 11-for-14 from 3-point range to edge Gettysburg
60-57 in Centennial Conference (CC) men’s basketball action
on Wednesday.
Righter drained 5 of his 6 attempts from
the behind the arc, helping the Blue Jays (15-7, 11-5 CC)
solidify their hold on a spot in the CC playoffs. With the
win, Johns Hopkins remained in a second-place tie with Ursinus,
a 96-74 winner at Haverford on Wednesday.
Despite the loss, the Bullets (13-10, 9-7 CC)
remained in a tie for fourth with Swarthmore, which fell at
Washington. The top four teams make the postseason tournament,
slated for Feb. 28-29 at top-seeded Franklin & Marshall.
Frank Mason chipped in
with 12 points while Eric Toback and Kevin
Marquez tallied 10 apiece in the winning effort.
David Glaser (West Chester, PA/Malvern
Prep) scored a game-high 20 points for Gettysburg,
which never led in the second half despite rallying to within
one on three occasions in the final three minutes. Todd
Brady (Hancock, NH/ConVal) matched a career high with
16.
With five different players combining
for a 7-for-8 showing from 3-point range, the Blue Jays built
a seven-point halftime lead and stifled every Bullet rally
to claim the key conference showdown.
Fittingly, JHU never trailed after Jeff
Thompson drained a 3-pointer to give the Blue Jays
a 24-22 lead with 5:26 left in the first half. Glaser hit
two free throws to knot the game at 24, but Mason made 1 of
2 charity tosses with 2:47 left to give the visitors the lead
for good at 25-24.
Leading 27-26, Righter canned back-to-back
treys in the final minute of the first half to turn a one-point
game into a 33-26 advantage at the break. The latter 3-pointer,
which barely beat the expiration of the shot clock, capped
a 12-for-20 first-half shooting performance by Johns Hopkins.
Down as many as nine in the early going,
Gettysburg scored seven straight points to pull within 37-35
on a Brady jumper. Toback, however, responded with a jumper
and Righter drained another 3-pointer to restore the Blue
Jays’ seven-point cushion.
Erik Fromm’s (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway
Regional) jumper cut the lead to 42-40, but Marquez
answered from 3-point range and Johns Hopkins pushed the lead
back to 48-42. Five straight points from Brady made it 48-47,
but Righter short-circuited the comeback with yet another
3-pointer.
Kyle Jakobe’s (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh/Peddie
[NJ]) only trey of the night cut the lead to 53-52
with 3:01 left, but Toback nailed a 3-pointer of his own on
the Blue Jays’ next trip. Matt Whelan (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield/Worcester
Acad. [MA]) answered with a trey from the left corner,
but Mason took the inbounds pass coast-to-coast for an easy
layup and a 58-55 lead with 1:47 left.
The teams traded two empty trips apiece
before Glaser hit a layup with 11 seconds remaining to pull
Gettysburg within one for the final time. On the ensuing possession,
Mason eluded the Bullet defense long enough to find Matt
Griffin all alone at the other end of the floor and
Griffin dunked the game’s final two points with 5.5 seconds
left.
Gettysburg raced the ball into its offensive
zone and called timeout with 2.4 ticks remaining, but failed
to get a shot away as time expired.
With the win, Johns Hopkins snapped a
five-game road losing streak and posted its fourth straight
win over the Bullets.
Glaser continued to climb Gettysburg’s
all-time scoring chart with his 20-point night, moving from
18th-place to 16th-place with 1,070 career points. Brady’s
other career-high, 16-point night also came against the Blue
Jays, in last year’s season finale.
The Bullets return to action on Saturday
at Swarthmore in a game. Game time is 4 p.m.
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