The Basics
• Score: Johns Hopkins-67, Ursinus-60
• Records: JHU (18-8) • UC (15-11)
• Location: Swarthmore, PA • Tarble Pavilion
• The Short Story: The second-seeded Johns Hopkins men's basketball team beat Ursinus, 67-60, in the semifinals of the 2019 Centennial Conference Tournament Friday at host Swarthmore. The Blue Jays advance to the championship game for the second straight year.
 
How it Happened
• Leading by just one after a Ryan McTamney jumper at the 15:37-mark of the second half, senior Michael Gardner drained a jumper to spark a 16-4 run that spanned nearly nine minutes. Freshman Braeden Johnson followed Gardner's bucket with back-to-back three-pointers from the left wing and the lead was nine. Gardner sandwiched buckets around a pair of Harry O'Neil free throws and senior Daniel Vila capped the run with a bucket in the paint to stake Hopkins to a 56-43 lead with 6:18 to play.
• Zack Muredda hit a pull-up jumper, followed by a McTamney three-pointer and the Blue Jays' lead was sliced to eight just 78 seconds later. Senior Noah Ralby pushed the lead back to double digits with a steal and a layup, but a Ryan Hughes three-point play on the other end made it a 58-51 game with 2:25 to go.
• Ralby sank a 15-footer as the shot clock wound down and the Blue Jays' lead was nine at the two-minute mark. After trading empty possessions, Eric Williams converted a pair of free throws for the Bears and the lead was back to seven with 66 seconds to go. Hopkins would seal the win by going 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final 61 seconds and Ursinus never got closer than six.
• The first 12 and a half minutes were a tightly contested affair that featured one tie and six lead changes. Trailing by one after a Hughes bucket in the paint at the 7:47-mark, Hopkins put together a quick 10-3 run that put the Blue Jays up 30-24. Wiliams cut the lead in half with a bucket from downtown, but Ralby responded with one of his own and it was 33-27 Hopkins with 1:47 to go. Ursinus pulled back within two with four unanswered points from Lucas Olshevski, but an O'Neil layup sent the Blue Jays to the locker room with a 35-31 lead.
• The Bears twice sliced the deficit to one in the opening four and a half minutes of the second, but each time the Jays answered. The second came in the form of that 16-4 run that gave Hopkins control of the game.  
 
What it Means
• Hopkins improves to 55-46 all-time against Ursinus and has won five straight in the series. This is the Blue Jays first win over the Bears in the Centennial Conference Tournament since a 107-101 win in the 2004 semifinals.
• Hopkins advances to the Centennial Conference Finals for the second straight year and 11^th overall. The Blue Jays are 4-6 in the championship game.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Gardner led the Blue Jays with 13 points and tied for the high with eight boards. O'Neil added 12 points and six boards while Johnson had 10 points. Vila swiped a game-high six steals, tied for the sixth most in school history. It's the most steals by a Blue Jay since sophomore Joey Kern had six at Haverford on February 17, 2018.
• Ralby just missed his second double-double of the season with nine points and a career-best eight boards. He also handed out a game-high five assists.
• McTamney was the lone Bear to finish in double figures, scoring a game-high 17 points. He had a game-best 10 rebounds as well to post a double-double. Muredda came just one point shy of a double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 boards.
 
Up Next
• Hopkins will take on the winner of sixth-ranked Swarthmore and Washington College in Saturday's conference title game. Tip-off at Tarble Pavilion is slated for 7:00 pm.