CARLISLE, PA – A Connor McIntyre layup with 1:37 to go put Johns Hopkins up 49-48 and the Blue Jays would hold on to defeat Franklin & Marshall, 50-48, in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Tournament Friday night at Dickinson. The Blue Jays (16-10), seeded third, become just the second team in CC history to beat the second-seeded Diplomats (17-9) three times in the same season and advance to the CC final for the eighth time in program history.
After the Blue Jays led for the game's first 32 minutes, the lead seesawed back-and-forth six times in a span of four minutes before McIntyre's bucket put Hopkins ahead for good. Defense took over from there for the Blue Jays as they held the Diplomats without a field goal in the final four minutes. With time winding down and trailing by one, F&M's Morgan Lee drove the paint and drew a foul with 2.2 seconds to go. He missed both shots and McIntyre corralled the rebound off the second miss. He was promptly fouled and went to the line, where he made one of two to stake Hopkins to a 50-48 lead. Jon Salandra grabbed the miss and the Diplomats called timeout with 0.8 seconds on the clock. Salandra threw a long inbounds pass but McIntyre tipped it and time expired.
Leading by two, junior Jimmy Hammer drained a pull-up three-pointer at the 14:31-mark of the first half to ignite a 15-5 Hopkins' run as the Jays pushed out to a 20-8 lead. Hammer, classmate Luke Chambers and sophomore Matt Billups did all the damage for JHU, scoring all 15 points during the spurt. After being held without a field goal or a point for more than four and a half minutes, Lee ended the Diplomats' drought with a jumper at 7:44. That kick-started a 16-6 burst that saw Franklin & Marshall cut the deficit to just two on a Lee layup with 2:06 on the clock. A pair of three-pointers from Lior Levy and Jared Wright fueled the run and Lee put an exclamation point on it with back-to-back buckets.
Sophomore Matt Chiusano hit a layup at the 1:52-mark and Hammer followed with a pair of free throws 50 seconds later and the lead was back to six. Hammer's free throws turned out to be the final points of the half and Hopkins would take a 30-24 lead into the locker room.
A three-point play by McIntyre to open the second half and a layup from junior George Bugarinovic pushed the Blue Jays' lead to 10 with 17:15 to play in the game. Franklin & Marshall wasn't going away and a fast-break layup from Salandra started a 15-6 spurt by the Diplomats as they made it just a one-point game with 10:56 to go. Lee and Salandra fueled the run with 11 of the Dips' 15 points.
Billups and sophomore Niko Kotoulas each hit one of two free throws in the ensuing two minutes as Hopkins clung to a three-point lead. Lee came back with another bucket in the paint followed by a pair of Matt Porter free throws and Franklin & Marshall had its first lead of the game. The teams traded points over the next 58 seconds and the Diplomats led 48-47 with 4:12 to play. A drought for both teams ensued until McIntyre's layup with 1:37 on the clock put Hopkins back on top, as it turned out, for good.
McIntyre led the Blue Jays with 12 points, while going 6-of-7 from the free throw line, while Billups posted his first career double double with career highs of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Hammer added nine points while also handing out a pair of assists and grabbing three steals. Lee led the Diplomats with a game-high 16 points while Salandra finished with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. The Blue Jays got their first win over the Diplomats' in their fourth meeting in the CC Tournament.
Hopkins will face the winner of Dickinson and McDaniel in the CC Championship game. It is the Blue Jays' first title game appearance since winning it all in 2007. Tip-off for the title game is set for 7:00 pm at Dickinson's Kline Center.