The Basics
• Score: #15 Swarthmore-78, #12 Johns Hopkins-68
• Records: JHU (14-3, 10-2 CC) • SC (16-3, 10-2 CC)
• Location: Swarthmore, PA • Tarble Pavilion
• The Short Story: Host and 15th-ranked Swarthmore beat the Johns Hopkins men's basketball team, 78-68, Saturday afternoon in a battle of the top two teams in the Centennial Conference.
How it Happened
• Trailing by 16 early in the second half, the Blue Jays rattled off 13 straight points to pull back within three with 14:50 to play. Five Blue Jays scored during the run, which took just took three minutes, and was fueled by a combined eight points from Carson James and Conner Delaney.
• Vinny DeAngelo ended the run with back-to-back buckets in the paint and pushed Swarthmore's lead to seven. Sidney Thybulle answered with a layup to make it a 48-43 game with 12:32 on the clock, but the Garnet responded with six straight points to push their lead back to double digits.
• The lead seesawed up and down for three and a half minutes and Swarthmore led 62-53 after a Thybulle layup. Four quick points by the Garnet pushed their lead to 13, but back-to-back threes by Tom Quarry and Delaney sliced the deficit to seven with 3:30 to play.
• Hopkins put together a 6-2 spurt to make it a five-point game at the 1:39-mark. Ryan Ingram answered with a pull-up jumper as the shot clock expired, sparking a 6-0 Garnet run as the lead grew to 11 with 28 ticks on the clock. Delaney converted a three-point play on the other end, pulling the Blue Jays back within eight but that's as close as they would get.
• The first 10 minutes were a back-and-forth affair with eight lead changes and two ties. A Thybulle dunk staked Hopkins to an 11-8 lead at the 11:27-mark, but an Ingram fast-break layup ignited a 13-1 Garnet run. George Corzine capped the run with a bucket in the paint to put Swarthmore up 21-12.
• Six quick Hopkins' points cut the lead to four with 5:48 to go in the half. The Garnet came right back with a 10-0 run to push their lead to 14 just two minutes later. Delaney halted the run with a four-point play, followed by a James free throw to cut the lead back to nine. Swarthmore outscored Hopkins, 8-4, over the final 68 seconds to take a 41-28 lead into the half.
What it Means
• Hopkins falls to 80-45 all-time against Swarthmore, with the Garnet winning four of the last seven.
• The Blue Jays and the Garnet are tied atop the Centennial Conference standings, but Swarthmore swept the season series with Hopkins.
Inside the Box Score
• Delaney led all scorers with 23 points, his eighth game of 20 or more points this season. He also grabbed three steals and handed out five assists. He now has 366 career assists, moving him into third place in JHU history. Delaney needs two assists to tie Glen Wall for second place.
• Three other Blue Jays finished in double figures. Thybulle matched his career high with 15 points, while also grabbing five boards and blocking three shots. James scored 13 points to go with four boards and two steals while Quarry added 10 points, five rebounds and three steals.
• DeAngelo led four Garnet in double figures with 14 points off the bench. Michael Caprise scored 13 to go with eight rebounds. Aidan Godfrey grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and added 12 points and three blocks. George Visconti chipped in 11 points.
Up Next
• Hopkins wraps up a three-game road swing on Wednesday, February 2 as the Blue Jays travel to Westminster, MD to take on McDaniel. Tip-off at the Gill Center is slated for 8:00 pm.