The McDaniel men’s basketball team lost to Johns Hopkins for the second time this year in another closely contested game, losing 68-63 on Wednesday night.
The Blue Jays jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes before McDaniel’s Kyle O’Connor hit a three-pointer to bring the Terror within two, 7-5.
The Terror would get their first lead of the game with Chris Rutland’s lay-up at the midway point of the first half, putting McDaniel up 16-15. The Terror would extend their lead to 19-15 with 7:16 to go in the half.
Another Rutland lay-up gave McDaniel their biggest lead of the game at 23-18 with 5:22 to go until the break. The Jays wouldn’t lead the rest of the half, as the Terror took a lead into halftime for the seventh game this year, 31-27.
In the previous six games when leading at half, McDaniel dropped four of the contests.
Hopkins’ Eric Toback scored 16 of his team’s 27 in the first half, as well as pulling down five rebounds. Sam Anstead led the Terror with nine points at the break, helped by his 5 for 5 shooting from the charity stripe.
The second half started with a 6-0 Jay run spanning three minutes, giving them a 33-31 lead. McDaniel would answer with a 7-0 run to give the Terror a 38-33 lead with 14:32 left in the game.
The Jays would once again pilfered the lead back by going on a 9-0 run over the next three minutes taking a 42-38 lead, a lead Hopkins would not surrender the remainder of the game.
Following an exchange of baskets by the two schools, Hopkins would go on another unanswered run, this time being eight points, extending their lead to their largest of the game at 56-44 with 8:24 remaining.
McDaniel would chip away at the lead, pulling within three at 64-61 thanks to two free-throws by Mike DiPiero with a minute to go. The Blue Jays’ TJ Valerio would follow suite by sinking two freebies of his own, giving Hopkins a 66-61 advantage.
A Rutland lay-up with 46 seconds to go brought the Terror back within three, 66-63, but Hopkins held on to win 68-63.
McDaniel was led by O’Connor who finished with 15 points. Rutland added 13 points and nine rebounds. The victors were led by Toback who finished with a game-high 23 points on 7 for 11 shooting from the field. He added eight rebounds. Jeff Thompson lent a helping hand all game, finishing with eight dimes for the Jays.
The loss sends the Terror to 4-17 on the year, 2-12 in the Centennial Conference. With the win, the Blue Jays up their conference record to 10-4, 13-7 overall. Hopkins remains in control of their own destiny to earn the number-one seed and opportunity to host the men’s conference tournament in Baltimore.
McDaniel returns to the court on Saturday, when they host Swarthmore. Tipoff set for 3:00 PM.