Nov. 28, 2007
Box Score
LANCASTER, PA - It was a tale of two halves on Tuesday night in Johns Hopkins 70-61 loss at Franklin & Marshall. The Blue Jays outscored the Diplomats 49-35 in the second half but it was not enough to overcome a 23-point halftime deficit as the Blue Jays slip to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the Centennial Conference.
Brandon Chasen hit a lay-up in the paint after the Blue Jays turned the ball over on their opening possession and the Diplomats never trailed. Franklin & Marshall shot 54.2 percent from the floor in the first half while outrebounding Hopkins 20-7 to take a 35-12 lead into halftime.
The Diplomats came out in the second and extended their lead to 31 at 56-25 with 13:23 to play. Hopkins began to chip into the deficit with eight straight points, including back-to-back treys, from senior Doug Polster (Bernardsville, NJ/Bernards). Trailing by 23 with under 10 minutes to play, sophomore Andrew Farber-Miller (Charlottesville, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) converted a conventional three-point play after getting fouled on a lay-up. Sophomore Pat O'Connell (Baltimore, MD/Loyola Blakefield) then capitalized on a Diplomats turnover, training a three from downtown. Junior Ryan Purcell (Schaumburg, IL/Schaumburg) followed a missed Franklin & Marshall basket with a trey and the lead was down to 14 with 4:38 remaining.
Franklin & Marshall called a timeout to stem the tide and briefly pushed its lead to 17 at 64-47. Hopkins cut the deficit to 12 before F&M pushed it back to 15. A three from junior Phil Beggans (Ocean, NJ/Ocean Township) and the lead was 12 with just 1:44 to play. Clay Scovill then missed a pair of free throws and Hopkins got the ball back with 1:26 to play, but back-to-back turnovers killed the Blue Jays comeback.
Beggans led the Blue Jays with 14 points, connecting of 4-of-6 shots from downtown. Polster punched in 11 points, all in the second half, while freshman
John Alberici (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep) chipped in 10 points. Four Diplomats finished in double figures, led by Scovill with 17 points. Franklin & Marshall dominated the boards, outrebounding Hopkins 42-17 on the night. Hopkins shot 64.3 percent from the floor in the second half, compared to just 30.0 percent in the first.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, December 1 when the Swarthmore Garnet visit Goldfarb Gymnasium. The Centennial Conference match-up is set for 3:00 pm.
