(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson College men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaker on Saturday, falling to visiting Johns Hopkins, 59-56, in Centennial Conference play.
The Red Devils jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Blue Jays answered to tie at the 11:14 mark. A Jaraad Rogers three-pointer put the Blue Jays in front, 18-12, with 6:47 to play in the half.
First-year Gerry Wixted (Moorestown, N.J./Lawrenceville School) tallied five points in the final minute as the Devils went into the break trailing 28-23.
A pair of Chris Barsanti (Hummelstown, Pa./Tilton School) free throws gave Dickinson a 31-30 lead with 16:58 remaining. A rebound and put-back by Steve Collins (Rydal, Pa./La Salle College) would later put the Devils up by eight, 41-33, with 12 minutes left to play.
Wixted knocked-down a three-pointer to put the Devils up, 45-35, and later put-back a miss to make the score 48-37 at the 9:26 mark.
The Devils held a 51-39 lead with 7:03 to play, but Hopkins wasn't quite ready to concede. The Blue Jays sank 8-of-9 free throws and saw 12 points from Alex Pandrangi put them back in front, 55-53, with 1:52 on the clock.
Wixted drew a foul and tied the game at the 1:16 mark. Pangrangi came through on the other end to bring the score to 57-55, with 1:01 remaining in regulation.
Sophomore Adam Honig (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) was fouled, hitting 1-of-2 free throws. The Blue Jays missed on the other end with Wixted pulling down the rebound.
Connor McIntyre came up with a big block in the final seconds. He was fouled and sank both free throws for the final of 59-56. The Devils had one last possession with 1.2 seconds on the clock, but were unable to get a shot.
The Blue Jays improve to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Centennial Conference. Pandrangi led the way with 17 points and eight rebounds, hitting 5-of-6 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the line.
Wixted recorded his second straight double-double, scoring a game-high 24 points and controlling a game-high 11 rebounds. He was 8-for-11 from the floor and perfect at the line, hitting 6-of-6 attempts.
Barsanti had another strong performance, adding eight points, four rebounds, a block and a steal. He was 6-for-8 from the line as the Devils hit 21-of-28 as a team. Tucker Landy (Durham, Conn./Xavier) hit 5-of-6 free throws for seven points while Collins finished with four points and six rebounds.
The Red Devils slip to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference. They travel to Muhlenberg College on Wednesday night for a 7:30 tip-off.