February
25, 2007
Blue Jays Foil Fords, 68-61;
Thomas & Fratangelo Combine for 45 Points in Championship
Loss
BALTIMORE, MD – Top-seeded
Johns Hopkins ended third-seeded Haverford's season Sunday afternoon
with a 68-61 victory in the Centennial Conference postseason tournament
championship game. Haverford senior guard Mike Fratangelo and
sophomore guard Chaz Thomas combined for 45 of Haverford's 61
points in the loss. The Fords finish the season with a 14-12 overall
record after compiling a 12-6 regular season Centennial record.
With the win, the Blue Jays will advance to the NCAA Division
III men's basketball tournament.
Both squads played even with each other over the first 12:15 of
play, as the score was knotted at 20. The Blue Jays distanced
themselves from the Fords by going on a 10-0 run over the next
3:50 to take a 30-20 advantage. Haverford was only able to shave
one point off the Hopkins lead, as the Blue Jays headed into the
halftime break with a 34-26 edge.
The Fords were able to cut the deficit down to six
points in the opening two minutes of the second half off a jumper
by senior guard Mike Fratangelo and a baseline dunk by Thomas.
Thomas followed with a 15-foot baseline jumper to make the score
39-34 with just under 16:02 remaining. With Hopkins up 41-34,
Fratangelo drained a three which was followed by a made basket
by sophomore forward David Nowacki to make it a 41-39 game with
12:32 to go. The Fords were able to even the game up at 44 with
11:24 on the clock after a fast break layup by Thomas. Hopkins
answered with five straight points to make it a 51-46 game with
9:28 on the clock. The Fords came back to take their first lead
since early on in the game with a 6-0 run capped off by a Thomas
three-pointer to make the game 52-51 in Haverford’s favor
with 7:26 remaining.
With the score knotted at 54, Hopkins scored four straight points
to make the game 58-54 with 3:44 to go. The Blue Jays were able
to maintain their four point lead up to the final 1:19 of the
game when they distanced themselves from the Fords by making six
free throws en route to the 68-61 victory.
Thomas led Haverford with a game-high 24 points while Fratangelo
scored 21 points for his second 20-plus point performance of the
season.
Thomas and Fratangelo combined for 45 of Haverford's 61 points.
The duo shot 16-of-28 (57.1%) from the field in the game while
the rest of the team made just 7-of-21 (33.3%) baskets from the
floor.
Haverford committed only 11 turnovers in the game and forced 16
Hopkins turnovers. The Blue Jays won the battle of the boards,
outrebounding the Fords by a 28-19 margin. Senior Danny Nawrocki
grabbed 15 rebounds for Hopkins and added ten points for the game's
only double-double. Seniors Matt Griffin and T.J. Valerio had
18 and 17 points, respectively for Hopkins in the win.
"I told the team after the game that as hard as this loss
is, you got an amazing taste of championship basketball because
you fought to the end," said Haverford head coach Mike Mucci
after the game. "I told the kids that you have to be proud
of what you accomplished, especially with how we started this
year."
Haverford put together 14 wins and 12 conference wins for the
second time in the past three seasons, and made its first conference
championship appearance since the 1977 team made it to the Middle
Atlantic Conference Southern Division Championship. Haverford
also won the majority of the close games, putting together a 10-3
mark in contests decided by five points or less this season.
The Fords will also be is returning all but one player next season,
including Fratangelo who was granted one more season of eligibility.
"With everyone coming back but Ray Brown, the kids have a
great opportunity to put themselves back in this position next
year," noted Mucci.
