The Blue Jays trailed 39-38 at the half and led just 47-46 with 14:05 remaining after a conventional three-point play by Goucher\'s Pierre Jones. However, freshman Patrick O\'Connell jump-started a 20-6 run with a three-pointer just 22 seconds later and the Gophers were never closer than eight in the final 10 minutes. O\'Connell, who scored a career-high 17 points in the victory, hit another three-pointer during the spree, which also included five points from Nawrocki and a three-pointer by senior T.J. Valerio to close the spree with 8:10 remaining.
Hopkins, which improved to 4-0 for the first time since the 1992-93 season, nursed the lead between nine and 15 points for the next four minutes before the Gophers made their inevitable run. A three-pointer by James Russo and back-to-back jumpers by Tim Merritt helped slice the lead to 74-66 with 4:21 remaining, but the Blue Jays hit 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch and held the Gophers to just one field goal and one free throw in the final four minutes to seal the win.
A return trip to the championship game looked like it might be tough to come by early as Goucher held the lead for a majority of the first half and built a 33-25 lead with 6:21 remaining with a 7-0 run that included a Russo three-pointer and a Merritt layup.
The Blue Jays battled back to within a point at intermission with a 13-6 run to close the first half. Nawrocki and junior Doug Polster ignited the run with back-to-back layups and Polster later tied the game at 37-37 with a three-pointer with 1:22 remaining in the half.
A Brent Sanrock layup less than 30 seconds into the second half gave Goucher a 41-38 lead, but Valerio responded with the first of his three second-half three-pointers to tie the game and Nawrocki gave the Blue Jays the lead for good 40 seconds later. O\'Connell\'s three-pointer to start the 20-6 run came just under five minutes after Nawrocki\'s layup.
Nawrocki\'s 20-point effort moved him into eighth-place on JHU\'s career scoring list (1,065), while O\'Connell (17), Matt Griffin (16), Valerio (14) and Polster (12) joined him in double figures. The Blue Jays hit 24-of-42 (.571) shots from the field, including a 14-of-21 (.667) showing in the second half. JHU was also 29-of-39 (.744) from the free throw line and held a slim 33-31 advantage in rebounding.
Russo led the Gophers with a game-high 23 points and and added four rebounds, while Jones (12) and Merritt (10) also hit for double-figures. The Gophers grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, but his just 4-of-18 (.222) from three-point range and now move into Sunday\'s consolation game against McDaniel.
The Johns Hopkins-Salisbury game is scheduled to start at 6:30 pm at Goucher on Sunday evening. The Blue Jays and Sea Gulls met in the first round of last season\'s Provident Pride of Maryland Tournament with JHU posting a 76-61 victory on the strength of a career-high 29-point effort by Valerio.