Johns Hopkins led just 37-36 with 14:22 remaining after a jumper by Immaculata’s Jason Hyman, but a layup by Griffin jump-started the 11-1 run, which included four points by Griffin and layups by Dan Nawrocki and Zack Armen and a jumper by T.J. Valerio. The Blue Jays maintained at least a nine-point lead for the next 10 minutes before Immaculata made one final push.
A three-pointer by Reggie Strickland and a conventional three-point play by Sean Fordham sliced the lead to 58-50 with just under three minutes remaining. Back-to-back baskets by Fordham and Hyman were sandwiched around a free throw by Valerio to make it 59-54 with two minutes left, but the Blue Jays hit all 12 of their free throws in the final 1:31, including six-of-six by Griffin, to seal the win.
The Blue Jays sprinted out to a quick 13-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game as sophomore Phil Beggans hit a pair of three-pointers to fuel the opening spree. The Mighty Macs slowly crept back into the game as Dan Lepone scored nine of his team-high 15 points in the opening half. Lepone’s three-pointer with 27 seconds left in the half pulled the Macs to within 24-21 and Kris Behm’s three-pointer at the buzzer tied the score at the halftime.
The teams played evenly for the first six minutes of the second half with Immaculata taking its only lead of the game (26-24) on a jumper by Behm to open the half. There would be three ties before a three-pointer by Patrick O’Connell gave the Blue Jays a 37-34 lead with 14:34 remaining. Hyman’s jumper 12 seconds later was answered by Griffin’s layup that jump-started the 11-1 run.
Griffin’s 17 points were a game-high , while he added nine rebounds in 26 minutes of action. Nawrocki added 14 points, 10 rebounds, six blocks and four assists, while sophomore Collin Kamm got the first start of his career and scored a career-high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Nawrocki’s six blocks were one shy of the school single-game record. JHU held a 43-31 rebounding advantage and shot 54.5% from the floor (24-of-44).
Lepone led the Mighty Macs with 15 points, while Fordham added 12 points and five rebounds. Immaculata hit just 20-of-68 (.294) shots from the floor, including just 5-of-21 (.238) from three-point range.
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