The Muhlenberg men's basketball played a terrific first half but ran out of gas in the second and fell to Johns Hopkins, 76-58.

The Blue Jays (7-1, 3-0), the defending Centennial Conference champions, came into the game ranked 15th in Division III and with a six-game winning streak in which they outscored their opponents by an average of 26.0 points per game. 

The first half was evenly played from the opening whistle, however. The game was tied at 17-17 midway through the period following a three-point play by junior Justin Allen. Senior Nate Henty Brown hit three three-pointers in the next five possessions, and another three by senior Noah Watson after junior Tommy McGuire blocked a dunk attempt gave the Mules (2-6, 0-3) a 29-25 lead and forced Hopkins to call a timeout.

The Blue Jays took a 38-35 lead into halftime, but a jumper by Watson and a layup by McGuire put Muhlenberg ahead by one two minutes into the second half.

Hopkins held the Mules to just one field goal over the next nine minutes, though, and began to pull away. The margin reached double digits for the first time at the 10:37 mark, and the closest the Mules would get after that was seven points.

Senior Dan Gaines (pictured above) scored 22 points, running his career total to 978. He also had 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Henty Brown finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds, while McGuire pulled down a career-high 11 boards.