Top-seeded Swarthmore and second-seeded Johns Hopkins each posted semifinal victories on Friday night to set up a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference Championship on Saturday at Tarble Pavilion. Hopkins downed third-seeded Ursinus 67-60 in the first semifinal, before the host Garnet toppled fourth-seeded Washington College 77-59. Saturday's game time is set for 7 p.m.
Hopkins, which defeated Swarthmore 61-57 in Tarble Pavilion to claim the 2018 title, advances to its 11th final and is seeking its second straight and fifth overall conference crown. The Garnet advance to the championship round for the fourth straight season and fifth time overall. Their lone title came in 2017, when they defeated Dickinson 68-64.
Noah Ralby, Johns Hopkins
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 11th 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.
Conor Harkins, Swarthmore
SWARTHMORE, Pa.—The stage is set for No. 6 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball's fourth consecutive appearance in the Centennial Conference Championship game following a 77-59 win over the Washington College (Md.) Shoremen on Friday night.
The Garnet will vie against the Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays for the title at home on Saturday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year's championship. The Blue Jays advanced to the championship with a 67-60 win over Ursinus College earlier on Friday.
Swarthmore, now 23-3 on the season, started out Friday's semifinal game with stifling defense, limiting Washington to just 21.9 percent shooting in the first half. Junior forward Zac O'Dell played a big part in that defensive effort, blocking five shots. Senior guard Cam Wiley contributed four steals as Swarthmore kept the pressure up.
On the offensive end, O'Dell led all players with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. He also grabbed seven rebounds and dealt out four assists. Sophomore guard Conor Harkins went 0-for-4 from long distance in the first half, but found his stroke in the second period, connecting on four 3-pointers and finishing with 17 points.
George Visconti knocked down 5-of-8 attempts from the floor to go home with 14 points. Six other Garnet players scored in the win. Cam Wiley posted nine points, halting a nine-game streak of scoring in double-digits, and also contributed four assists.
As a team, the Garnet went just 1-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half, but bounced back with a 6-of-11 performance in the second half.
In a game with 36 fouls between the two teams, Swarthmore was lights out from the free-throw line, sinking 16-of-17 attempts for a 94.1 percent night.
Swarthmore never trailed and jumped out to a 7-0 lead after the opening tip. Swarthmore's lead reached double figures with 14:47 to go after an O'Dell layup made it 14-4.
The Garnet took a 14-point lead into halftime and the lead finally reached 20 points on a triple by Visconti with 8:04 left in the second half. The Garnet put the nail in the Shoremen coffin with 5:02 to play when Nate Shafercame up with a strip and then sent an outlet pass to Cam Wiley who finished the fastbreak layup on the other end and making it 68-44 Swarthmore.
Swarthmore now looks to avenge last year's title game loss to Johns Hopkins. Tip-off for the championship game is at 7 p.m.