SWARTHMORE, PA – Host Swarthmore prevailed, 53-46, over Johns Hopkins in a defensive battle between a pair of top-15 teams Tuesday night.
 
Hopkins cut the deficit to four with 3:17 to play, but Swarthmore answered with back-to-back buckets to go up 50-42 at 1:52. Senior Carson James and sophomore John Windley then sandwiched buckets around a pair of Michael Caprise free throws and it was a six-point game with 1:12 on the clock. That's as close as the Blue Jays could get as the Garnet got one more free throw from Colin Shaw in the final 14 seconds to seal the win.
 
Jayden Nixon ended a nearly four-minute scoring drought for both teams with a layup at 10:22 to make it 11-7 Swarthmore. George Visconti answered with a jumper to spark a 6-1 spurt to put the Garnet up 17-8 at the 7:00-mark. Nixon then scored nine of out of the next 10 points for the Blue Jays as they took an 18-17 lead with 1:56 on the clock. Swarthmore came right back with eight unanswered points to take a 25-18 lead into the half.
 
Cal Hanson opened the second with a jumper 25 seconds in to push the Garnet's lead to nine. Senior Sidney Thybulle answered with a put-back to ignite an 8-0 Blue Jay run as they pulled within one. Thybulle bookended the run with a pair of free throws to make it a 27-26 game with 13:49 to go. Hanson then hit back-to-back three pointers to kick-start an 11-0 run that saw the Garnet go up 37-26.
 
The teams swapped scores over the next two and a half minutes and it was a 10-point game. A Windley layup, followed by a Tom Quarry triple cut the deficit in half. George Corzine answered with a bucket in the paint for the Garnet, but four straight points from James made it a three-point game with 5:01 to play. Hanson responded with a three-pointer to double Swarthmore's lead, but a Thybulle layup pulled the Jays within four at 46-42 with 3:17 on the clock.
 
James led the Blue Jays with 13 points while also grabbed six rebounds. Nixon scored 12 points and added seven boards, while sophomore Brian Johansson pulled a game and career-high 10 rebounds. Hanson scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Garnet. Shaw added eight points and eight boards, while Vinny DeAngelo finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
 
Hopkins returns to action on Thursday, January 12 as the Blue Jays visit McDaniel. Tip-off at the Gill Center is scheduled for 8:00 pm.