Blue Jay basketball headed to playoffs

Senior forward Tim Mc-
Carty led Hopkins to a 65-
60 win over the Ursinus-
Bears with an outstanding
shooting performance this
weekend. He went six-ofseven
from the floor, including
three of four from
outside the arc, to net a
career high of 25 points.
As a result, McCarty was
named The News-Letter's
Athlete of the Week.
The Blue Jays then
played the 14th-ranked
Diplomats of Franklin and
Marshall Wednesday night
in Goldfarb Gym, falling to
the conference rivals, 71-
63. The split improved the
Jays to 14-10, and clinched
the Jays a Centennial Conference
playoff bid for the
first time since the 2007-
2008 season.
Hopkins started the
game strong, gaining an
early 12-0 lead in just four
minutes - the result of
strong shooting from both
McCarty and sophomore
guard Daniel Corbett. The
two teams stayed equal for
the next four minutes, and
Hopkins was able to maintain
a 21-9 lead with just
over 12 minutes remaining
in the half.
A shot from sophomore
center Aleksander Nikolic
gave Hopkins its largest
lead of the game, leaving
them with a 14-point margin
over Ursinus with just
11:52 left.
Over the next eight
minutes the Bears, led by
Ursinus junior Matt Donahue,
scored 16 points to
Hopkins' four, reducing
the Hopkins lead to just
two points. With just four
minutes remaining in the
game, Corbett and McCarty
once again extended the
Hopkins advantage, this
time by six points. Hopkins
led 33-27 at halftime.
Corbett boasted 18 points,
nine boards and four assists.
The Jays increased their
score in the second half,
gaining a 10-point advantage
with just 13:37 left in
the game. McCarty had
completed two consecutive
three-point plays: one from
the free throw line and
the other from a distance.
Freshman guard Jimmy
Hammer followed with a
three of his own.
Hopkins maintained
their lead comfortably until
the eight-minute mark,
when Ursinus junior Jon
Ward jump-started a second
run for the Bears, who
scored 15 points to Hopkins'
five.
The game was close in
the final minutes - Hopkins
led by only one point
with just over a minute
and a half remaining in the
contest. With the game on
the line, McCarty responded
by hitting his third and
final three-pointer to extend
the lead to four.
The two teams traded
free throws several times,
but Hopkins maintained
an eight-point edge with
just 19 seconds remaining.
A final three-pointer at the
buzzer by Donahue cut
the lead to five to end the
game.
This was the Jays' first
win over the Bears since
2009. McCarty, in addition
to his six-of-seven shooting
performance went 10-12
from the free throw line.
He had eight rebounds
and two assists, for good
measure. The Jays held the
Bears to just 39.6 percent
shooting from the field,
and just 35.5 percent when
shooting triples.
On Wednesday night,
the Jays looked to continue
their winning ways against
Franklin and Marshall, but
the nationally ranked Diplomats
proved to be too
powerful. The loss ended
Hopkins' four-game win
streak.
The Blue Jays were led
by McCarty once again,
who posted 11 points and
seven rebounds. Other
notable performances included
Nikolic and freshman
forward George
Bugarinovic, who led the
Jays with 13 points and 11
rebounds, respectively.
Franklin and Marshall
controlled most of the
game, never trailing in the
first half. Hopkins entered
the locker room at half time
down 41-33 in large part
because of eight turnovers,
compared to just two from
the Diplomats.
The second half was a
different game, however,
as the Jays dominated in
second-chance opportunities,
14-3. With 11:47 remaining
in the game, Hopkins
took their first lead of
the game, 48-47, on a jump
shot from sophomore forward
Connor McIntyre.
The six-foot-six big man
finished the contest with
five points.
The game remained a
two possession affair until
two minutes to play when
Franklin and Marshall
marched ahead to improve
their overall record to 22-2.
Despite the loss, Hopkins
should take pride in
the fact that they stayed
with the Diplomats, a
confidence builder heading
into tournament time.
The game could serve as a
prequel to the Centennial
Conference championship
next weekend.
Hopkins wraps up its
regular season at Washington
College this weekend.
The Blue Jays are fighting
for the second-seed in the
conference tournament,
trailing second-place Dickinson
by just one game
with one to play.