Bugarinovic leads Blue Jays to win

The Hopkins men's basketball
team traveled to
Chestertown, MD to face
Washington College this
past weekend. The Blue
Jays took down the Shoremen,
71-67. This was the
final regular season game
for the Blue Jays before
the Centennial Conference
Tournament.
In the early going, the
Blue Jays found themselves
trailing 15-6 to the Washington
College Shoremen.
It was senior day for the
Shoremen so the team was
amped up during the early
minutes. However, WC
could not sustain their lead
for long allowing Hopkins
to go on a 11-2, led by junior
Mike Rhoads and
classmate Adam Spengler.
At the half, the Blue Jays
were down three, 31-28,
but after the initial minutes
went, the team was happy
with their position.
Freshman George Bugarinovic
dominated the second
half for the Blue Jays.
He scored 18 points on the
day, 12 of which came in
the second half. Bugarinovic
has started 23 of 25
games for the Blue Jays,
and his proven success
throughout the year was
spotlighted when he took
control of the second half.
Bugarinovic accompanied
his 18 points with a career
high 13 rebounds. It was
his fourth double-double
of the season.
Anchored by the performance
of Bugarinovic, the
Blue Jays were able to defeat
the Shoreman in Chestertown
for the first time
since 2008.
The Hopkins Blue Jays
and the Washington College
Shoremen will square
off for the second time in
a week on Wednesday.
If the first game was any
indication of how the second
game will play out,
then the Blue Jays will find
themselves in a close battle
till the final buzzer. However,
facing the Shoremen
again in such a narrow
time frame may give the
Blue Jays the upper hand.
Sophomore Daniel Corbett
thinks the team can use
this to their advantage.
"This time we will know
what to expect. Our game
plan will be the exact same
as it was the first game
and if we execute like we
did this past Saturday, we
know we can win."
Corbett also noted that
it is a challenge to face the
same team twice in a short
time span because they
will try to revamp their
game plan in hopes of a
different outcome. However,
the Blue Jays do not
have an easy offense to
contain. "They (the Shoremen)
know our offense
well. But we are a versatile
team with multiple offensive
sets," Corbett went on
to say. It certainly will be
a tough game for the first
round of the Centennial
Conference Playoffs, but, if
the Blue Jays stick to their
game plan, they will be
successful.
It has been a busy start
to the Centennial Conference
Playoffs for the Blue
Jays. Many accolades have
surrounded this past victory
to finish off the regular
season. Head coach Bill
Nelson was named Centennial
Conference Coach
of the Year. Nelson led the
team to a 15-10 record overall
and an 11-7 record in
conference. This is the first
time since 2008 that the
Blue Jays will finish above
.500. The Blue Jays also had
Bugarinovic and Corbett
selected to the Honorable
Mention All-Centennial
Conference team.
Bugarinovic is just the
third freshman in Blue
Jays' history to be named
to the All-CC honorable
mention team, and for
good reason. He leads the
team in scoring averaging
9.9 a game and rebounding
with 5.9 a game. Daniel
Corbett leads the team in
assists with 63 and steals
with 38.
The Blue Jays will take
their recent accolades and
season success into Goldfarb
Gym Wednesday
night to once again battle
the Shoremen in the first
round of the Centennial
Conference Playoffs.
Coverage of the game
can be found in next week's
issue of The News-Letter.