Brooks Nets Game-Bests of 16 Points and Five Assists For WC

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Visiting Johns Hopkins fended off a late host Washington College rally to record a 64-57 victory at the Cain Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon in a Centennial Conference men's basketball game.  It was the regular season finale for the Shoremen who conclude their season at 5-20 overall and 4-14 in the conference.  The Blue Jays, who will be the third seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament improve to 15-10 and 12-6 respectively.

Johns Hopkins led 56-42 with 3:45 remaining in the second half following a Connor McIntyre free throw.  The Shoremen went on an 13-2 run to cut the lead Blue Jays' lead to 58-55 with 1:21 left in the game on a layup by junior guard Sean Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn).  Brooks scored seven of the 13 points for WC during the run.  However the Blue Jays pulled away with the help of four free throws, and a fast-break layup by Gene Williams with 20 ticks to make it 64-55.  WC scored the final basket of the game to provide the final margin.

The Shoremen led 7-3 with 16:03 to go in the first half on a layup by sophomore forward Dave Knox (Warrenton, Pa./Central Bucks South) when the Blue Jays went on a 13-2 run to take a 16-9 lead with 9:08 to go in the first half on a McIntyre lay-in.  Johns Hopkins took the lead for the rest of the half on a four-point play by Luke Chambers at 8-7 with 13:39 to go in the stanza.  The guests led 27-19 with 2:11 to go in the half following a three-pointer by Washington freshman guard Bryan Shapiro (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion) before scoring the final six points of the half to take a 33-19 lead into halftime.  A Matt Billups bunny with 18 ticks left concluded the first half scoring.

In the second half, the Blue Jays took their biggest lead of the game at 44-28 with 13:07 to go in the contest on two free throws by Austin Vasiliadis.  The Shoremen would get it within eight points twice, but the Blue Jays pushed the lead back to 14 points at 56-42 with 3:45 left on McIntyre's free throw.

George Burgarinovic had a double-double with 13 points and tied for game-high in rebounds with 10, while Jimmy Hammer scored a team-high 15 points for Johns Hopkins.  Williams had a team-best four assists, while McIntyre led all players with three steals.  The Blue Jays shot 40% from the floor (20-for-50), 20% from three-point range (3-for-15) and 78% from the foul line (21-for-27).  Johns Hopkins outrebounded Washington 42-34 and held a 26-18 edge in points in the paint.

Brooks had game-best of 16 points and five assists for Washington, while sophomore forward Pat Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) had 10 rebounds to lead the hosts and tied for most in the game.  Washington shot 36% in the game (22-for-62), 32% from three-point land (10-for-31) and 43% at the free throw stripe (3-for-7).  Morgan did not make a three in the game, but made 62 this season, five shy of the record which is held by Ben Harris in 1994-95.  Harris sank 67 that season.

Two senior players represented Washington for the final time today, forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, N.J./Haddon Township) and guard Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Lenape).  Cunningham had his career come to an end on January 18 at Muhlenberg due to injury.