Although their season began with a loss, the future has been looking increasingly promising for the JHU men’s basketball team.
Commencing the season with two games in the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Memorial Tournament in Cleveland, OH, Hopkins initially started with a 0-1 record, losing their first game 61-44 to Wittenburg. The Blue Jays were immediately looking to improve their record and narrowly did so in their second game against Bluffton.
Entering the last three minutes of the game and lagging by seven points, the Jays had come from behind to win the game by just two points, boosting them to a 1-1 record.
Hopkins’s third game of the season was also an away game, bringing them to Haverford, Pa. where they took on the Haverford Black Squirrels, a fellow Centennial Conference member. Getting off to a memorable start, the Jays put up 15 unchallenged points in quick succession during the first 18 minutes.
Noteworthy players included George Bugarinovic and Jimmy Hammer, both sophomores, who together scored 37 points and 13 of the first 15 points total. At the half, JHU led 30-17 after senior, Adam Spengler made two free throws.
Spengler also jumpstarted the second half of the game, shooting a three-pointer and increasing the Jay's lead.
Maintaining a healthy lead for the rest of the second half, the game ended with a Hopkins victory, 72-46. Haverford currently holds an overall record of 1-3.
Bugarinovic, with 21 points, led the Jays in scoring.
In their most recent match on Monday, November 26, JHU faced off against Goucher College in a benefit game for Damon Brooks, a Goucher student and basketball player who was injured last spring.
Although Goucher took off with an early 7-0 lead, Hopkins broke the ice at the end of the first quarter with a layup from Jimmy Hammer and a jump-shot from Spengler to put the final score of the quarter at 7-4.
At the start of the second quarter, Goucher again led the Jays in scoring increasing their lead by five more points.
Jay's Sophomore, George Bugarinovic, who was named this week’s Centennial Conference Player of the Week, then started a scoring streak for the Jays with a layup, followed by Hammer, who shot a three-pointer. Junior Alexsandar Nikolic and Omar Randall followed in Bugarinovic’s and Hammer’s footsteps, both putting points on the board and pushing the score to 20-13 with Hopkins now in the lead.
After Goucher regained some ground, the score stood at 20-17 with five minutes left in the first half. Hopkins responded loudly, scoring 21 points while Goucher scored 8, leaving the score at 41-25 at the end of the first half.
The Blue Jays picked up exactly where they left off at the end of the first half, immediately sinking more shots and increasing their lead to 24 points.
The Jays continued to hold their lead throughout the second half of the game, leading by as much as 28 points. The final score was 72-52.
Several players had impressive game, including Jimmy Hammer who achieved a career-high of 21 points. Hammer also led the game for most points and shot five three-pointers for the second game in a row.
Bugarinovic, CC player of the week, scored 11 points for Hopkins with 13 rebounds, a career high.
Hopkins will return this Thursday, Nov. 29, when they take on the Gettysburg Bullets in Gettysburg, Pa. The Bullets, who are also part of the Centennial Conference, currently maintain a 1-0 CC record and a 2-2 overall record. The game is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
