Sal Schittino, Washington College
Washington College 56, Johns Hopkins 53
Senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) made the go ahead three-pointer with 58.6 seconds left to put Washington College up for good at 52-51 as the visiting fifth-seeded Shoremen downed host Johns Hopkins, the four seed, on Wednesday evening, 56-53, in the Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Tournament First Round game at Goldfarb Gym. The Shoremen improve to 14-12 with the win and clinch a winning season, while the Blue Jays conclude their campaign at 15-11. WC will travel to top seed and host Franklin & Marshall on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. in Lancaster, PA.
It was the first time the Shoremen topped the Blue Jays in the conference tournament after falling to them in 1998 (60-59) and 1999 (78-52), with 1999 being the conference tournament title game. It was also the team's first road conference tournament win since February 24, 1999 when WC downed F&M, 77-71.
Tim McCarty would sink four free throws in a 39-second span to put the Blue Jays back up 49-48 with 1:50 left in the second half. On the next possession, Breslin was fouled and made one-of-two from the line to tie the game at 49-49 with 1:25 to play. Hopkins' George Burgarinovic was fouled on the next possession and made both from the charity stripe to put the hosts back up two at 51-49 with 1:10 remaining in the contest. On the Shoremen's next possession, Breslin drained a three-pointer with 58.6 seconds left to give WC a 52-51 lead and a lead they would never cough up. On the Blue Jays' next series, Adam Spengler missed a long jumper and the ball went out of bounds in favor of the Shoremen. Senior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) was fouled on the inbounds pass and made both from the line to put the Shoremen up 54-51 with 28.7 ticks left. Jimmy Hammer missed a game tying three with 16 seconds left and Schittino grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Schittino again cashed in on both free throws with 11.3 seconds left to give the visitors a 56-51 lead. Daniel Corbett of Johns Hopkins made a short jumper at the buzzer to provide the final margin.