News Release

BALTIMORE, Md. — Johns Hopkins got a combined 33-point effort on Senior Day from Jeff Thompson and Bobby Sharafeddin, as the Blue Jays handed Haverford an 85-66 defeat in Centennial Conference men’s basketball on Saturday at Goldfarb Gym.

Thompson poured in a career-high 20 points in the win, with 15 coming in the first half. For the game, Thompson was 7-of-9 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line. Thompson previously reached a career-high with 11 in a win over Muhlenberg on Dec. 3, 2005.

Sharafeddin chipped in 13 of his own, perfect on all three of his three-point tries and his four chances from the stripe.

The two also handed out a team-high three assists.

Hopkins ignited the nets, shooting 61.7 percent (29-of-47) from the field, including 65.4 percent (17-of-26) in the second half. The Blue Jays hit on four of their five field goal attempts to open up the second half and ran off a string of four straight in the final six minutes to extend the lead to 19.

It was the fourth time this season the Blue Jays shot better than 60 percent and the first time since Hopkins connected on 61 percent of its tries at Muhlenberg on Jan. 14. The season high for the Blue Jays is 64 percent against McDaniel in the Pride of Maryland Tournament on Nov. 19.

Two other Blue Jay starters found their way into double figures, as juniors Matt Griffin and Danny Nawrocki posted 21 and 16 points, respectively. Griffin was 5-of-6 from the field in the second half.

Junior Ray Brown paced the Fords (8-12, 6-8) with 21 points, hitting on seven of his 12 field goal tries. Brown also made 7-of-10 attempts from the free throw line, before fouling out with 6:47 remaining in the game. Junior Mike Fratangelo added 16, while freshman Adam Howland posted 10 points.

After going up 6-5 just over three minutes into the contest, Haverford could get no closer than two in the first half and five in the second.

With the win, the Blue Jays (16-4, 12-2) have clinched a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament, scheduled for Feb. 25-26 at the site of the top seed. In the chase for first place, Johns Hopkins and Ursinus stayed even (Ursinus won 80-65 at Dickinson earlier in the day), with the two teams set to square off on Feb. 11 at 3 p.m.

Newspaper Box Score
JOHNS HOPKINS 85, HAVERFORD 66
HAVERFORD (8-12, 6-8 CC)
Ray Brown 7-12 7-10 21; Jason Polykoff 7-13 2-4 16; Adam Howland 4-8 0-0 10;
Ben McDowell 3-5 1-2 7; Johnny Elefterakis 1-6 4-4 6; David Nowacki 2-5 0-0
4; Mike Fratangelo 1-3 0-0 2; Brent Anderson 0-0 0-0 0; Aaron Heath 0-0 0-0
0; Matthew Stitt 0-0 0-0 0; Greg Rosnick 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 14-20 66.

JOHNS HOPKINS (16-4, 12-2 CC)
Matt Griffin 9-13 3-3 21; Jeff Thompson 7-9 6-9 20; Danny Nawrocki 5-10 6-9
16; Bobby Sharafeddin 3-3 4-4 13; T.J. Valerio 3-6 0-0 6; Chris Morley 0-0
5-7 5; Chris Ludgate 2-3 0-0 4; Zack Armen 0-0 0-0 0; Doug Polster 0-0 0-0
0; Phil Beggans 0-1 0-0 0; Ryan Purcell 0-0 0-0 0; Collin Kamm 0-0 0-0 0;
Terence Coppola 0-1 0-0 0; Scott Weisenfeld 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-47 24-32
85.

Haverford.....................   32   34  -   66
Johns Hopkins.................   41   44  -   85

3-point goals-Haverford 2-16 (Adam Howland 2-5; Jason Polykoff 0-5; Johnny
Elefterakis 0-4; David Nowacki 0-2), Johns Hopkins 3-7 (Bobby Sharafeddin
3-3; Jeff Thompson 0-1; T.J. Valerio 0-1; Phil Beggans 0-1; Terence Coppola
0-1). Fouled out--Haverford-Ben McDowell; Ray Brown; Johnny Elefterakis,
Johns Hopkins-None. Rebounds-Haverford 15 (Greg Rosnick 3), Johns Hopkins 38
(Danny Nawrocki 9). Assists-Haverford 13 (Jason Polykoff 4; Greg Rosnick 4),
Johns Hopkins 16 (Matt Griffin 3; Bobby Sharafeddin 3; Jeff Thompson 3).
Total fouls-Haverford 23, Johns Hopkins 16. A-411