#23 Blue Jays Shoot Past Swarthmore
BALTIMORE, Md. - Johns Hopkins forward Matt Griffin scored 15 points and guard Doug Polster made four three-pointers as the hometown Blue Jays remained undefeated after a 73-57 Centennial Conference victory over Swarthmore in Goldfarb Gymnasium Tuesday night. Garnet junior forward Ian McCormick led Swarthmore (1-3 overall, 0-1 CC) with 16 points and seven rebounds while classmate Matt Kurman added 13 points and six assists.
The Blue Jays (6-0 overall, 1-0 CC) opened up a 13-6 lead following a three-pointer from Collin Kamm and a jumper from Griffin at 14:43. McCormick brought Swarthmore back within two at 13-11 with a jumper and his second three-pointer of the first half. The junior post tied the game at 20-20 with a lay-up in the paint at 8:50. Swarthmore took its first lead of the night, 23-20, at 7:19 when Kurman buried a triple.
Johns Hopkins re-took the lead with a Danny Nawrocki lay-up and then pushed the advantage to 29-26 with a bucket by Griffin at 4:48. Swarthmore freshman Matt Turner put back his own miss and Kurman finished off a steal by McCormick with a lay-up at 3:15 to put the Garnet ahead 30-29. Polster sank a three in the next Blue Jay possession yet McCormick dropped in his third triple of the half with 47 seconds left to re-assume the lead. JHU's T.J. Valerio sank a pair of free throws to send the Blue Jays into the halftime with a 34-33 lead.
McCormick played all 20 minutes of the first half, scoring 16 points on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc. Griffin led Hopkins with nine points while Nawrocki added eight points.
The Blue Jays came out firing to open the second half, scoring the first twelve points to assume a 46-33 lead after a Valerio jumper. Johns Hopkins held Swarthmore without a bucket until Turner sank a jumper at 13:58. The stingy Blue Jay defense held the Garnet to just 29% shooting from the field in the second half. Swarthmore was able to get as close as 53-45 after a Kurman jumper at 9:26, but JHU kept the hot hand going, hitting at 57% in the second half to remain undefeated.
Nawrocki notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while frontcourt partner Griffin shot 7-of-9 to go along with four steals.
Swarthmore turns right around, heading to Bethlehem, Pa. tomorrow night to face Division I-foe Lehigh at 7:00 p.m.