The Basics
• Score: Johns Hopkins-71, Haverford-67
• Records: JHU (17-8, 14-4 CC) • HC (10-15, 6-12 CC)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Goldfarb Gym
• The Short Story: The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team hit 14-of-28 three-pointers and never trailed in a 71-67 win over visiting Haverford in the regular season finale for both teams at Goldfarb Gym Saturday evening. This is the third time this season the Blue Jays have hit 14 threes in a game.
How it Happened
• The Blue Jays were hot from deep early as they hit 9-of-15 triples before halftime, including three each by senior Michael Gardner and freshman Braeden Johnson. The strong outside shooting helped Hopkins build a 39-35 halftime lead.
• Starting all five of its seniors on senior night, Hopkins jumped out to a quick 14-6 lead less than four minutes into the game. Three-pointers by Daniel Vila, Kabir Suri and two from Gardner fueled the run.
• The Fords were within one at 17-16 after a Jack Cork jumper capped a 10-3 run. Back-to-back triples from Kyle Goldfarb and Kahlil Garnes ignited the run that took just over two minutes.
• After battling evenly over the next four-plus minutes, the Blue Jays used a 14-4 run to turn a 20-20 tie into a 34-24 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the opening half. An Ethan Bartlett dunk opened the run for Johns Hopkins, which used back-to-back three-pointers from Johnson and a run-ending triple from Harry O'Neil to grab the 10-point advantage.
• Haverford had the 10-point deficit down to four at the half as the Fords closed the opening stanza with an 11-5 spree. Joe Scibelli scored five of his 11 first-half points and Cork added a pair of baskets during the final first-half push by Haverford.
• Hopkins has the lead up to seven at 44-37 early in the second half on a traditional three-point play from Joey Fitzpatrick, but the Fords answered with a Goldfarb triple and stayed within five points for the next 14 minutes.
• Haverford forced one tie (50-50) and was within one as late as the 6:54 mark after a Goldfarb layup, but Fitzpatrick answered that with Johns Hopkins' 14th and final three-pointer of the game to give the Blue Jays a 62-58 lead with 4:18 to play.
• A pair of free throws by Cork made it a three-point game (65-62) with just under two minutes to play and a layup by Garnes with five seconds left pulled the Fords within 70-67, but Gardner's free throw with 2.7 seconds left sealed the win for the Blue Jays.
What it Means
• Hopkins improves to 76-38 all-time against Haverford and sweeps the season series. The Blue Jays cap the regular season with three straight wins after losing three-of-four in late January/early February.
Inside the Box Score
• The 14 three-pointers the Blue Jays hit are two shy of the school single-game record and are tied for the third-highest single-game total in school history. Seven different players hit at least one three-pointer in the game.
• Four Blue Jays scored in double figures with Johnson (15), O'Neil (12), Gardner (12) and Fitzpatrick (11) combining for 50 of Johns Hopkins' 71 points.
• Scibelli scored a game-high 17 points to lead four Haverford players in double figures. Cork added 15, while Goldfarb (11) and Garnes (10) were the Fords' other double-figure scorers.
• JHU totaled 19 assists on its 25 field goals in the game with Gardner (6) and Fitzpatrick (6) combining for 12 of the 19.
Up Next
• Hopkins will play Ursinus in the Centennial Conference Semifinals on Friday, February 22. The Blue Jays are the number two seed in the tournament, while the Bears are seeded third. Top-seeded Swarthmore will play the winner of the first-round game between fourth-seeded Washington College and fifth-seeded Franklin & Marshall. The semifinals and championship game will take place at Swarthmore with semifinal game times set to be announced on Monday, February 18.