Instead of going home for Thanksgiving break, the Hopkins men’s basketball team packed their bags and took their talents to southern California to compete in the Wells Classic. Arriving at the tournament with a 3-2 record, the Blue Jays were aiming to maintain a winning record. The team started their play on Friday night as the Blue Jays took on the Stags of Claremont Mudd-Scripps (CMS). Both teams were evenly matched as the game experienced 11 lead changes throughout.
Hopkins started off strong, as six different Blue Jays scored early on in the first half. Hopkins continued to control the game up until the 5:30 mark of the first period. As the half approached, the Stags stepped up their game and went on an 11-8 run putting them four points ahead of the Blue Jays at the end of the period. Keeping up the intensity, the Stags started off the second half strong maintaining the lead well into the second period.
The Blue Jays would tie the game at the 15:12 mark with a three point shot made by junior Jimmy Hammer. Following Hammer’s three and a defensive stop, junior George Bugarinovic would knock down a two-point basket giving Hopkins the lead — the first of seven lead changes in the second period. With 13 seconds left in the game, Bugarinovic laid the ball in to put the Blue Jays ahead 65-62. With six seconds left after missing a three-point basket, CMS was in desperation and resorted to fouling sophomore Gene Williams in order to stop the clock.
With two seconds left on the clock, Williams would easily drain both free throws — not knowing how clutch they would end up being — right before CMS’ Tyler Gaffaney knocked down a three at the buzzer. The Blue Jays would come out victoriously by a final score of 67-65. Bugarinovic tied his season-high of 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, while Williams scored a career-high 16 points and dished five assists.
The following night, the Jays hit the court again facing the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens. Hopkins started off strong, draining three back-to-back shots from behind the arc to lead the Sagehens 9-7. After trading the lead nine more times, the Sagehens would tie the game up at 28-28 with 37 seconds left in the period. With three seconds left before the half, the Sagehens got a defensive rebound and drained a three at the buzzer and would lead the Jays 31-28 at the end of the period.
The Blue Jays would score first coming into the second half off of a layup from Bugarinovic. Pomona-Pitzer would retaliate with a 13-6 run, leading the Blue Jays 46-37 at the 11:30 mark. Hopkins cut their deficit to 52-57 at the 2:30 mark and would hold the Sagehens to a score of 57 for the remainder of the game. Sophomore Matt Chiusano laid the ball in with 33 seconds to go in the game to bring the score to 54-57. The Blue Jays had to foul five consecutive times in order to put the Sagehens in the bonus and on the free throw line. The Sagehens missed the one-and-one opportunity allowing Williams to get a layup and add two more points on the board for the Blue Jays.
With Pomona-Pitzer leading 57-56 with two seconds left on the clock, Hopkins had no other choice but to foul. With one second left on the clock, Pomona-Pitzer missed the one-and-one and only allowed enough time for a defensive rebound by Bugarinovic. The Jays would fall to the Sagehens 57-56. Bugarinovic was the only Hopkins player to score in double digits with 12 points, while Hammer and sophomore Austin Vasiliadis both added nine points for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays finished the tournament with a record of 1-1 to bring their season record to 4-3, successfully maintaining a winning percentage in the first portion of the season. Successful play from Hammer, Bugarinovic and Vasiliadis paced the Jays throughout their games in Calif., as the team fought hard and battled well in both matches.
The Jays did not have much time to rest after their weekend trip to the West Coast, as they returned to Baltimore to face off against the Gettysburg Bullets on Dec. 3 in Goldfarb Gymnasium. Unfortunately for the Jays, they fell into a deep hole halfway through the second half. Despite a tremendous rally that was led by Bugarinovic and sophomore Niko Kotoulas, the Bullets outlasted the Jays, 70-65, sending the Jays to their second straight loss. The loss marked the first loss in conference play for Hopkins as they fell to 4-4 on the season.
The two teams were matched very evenly, as they continued to exchange leads throughout the majority of the first half. Hopkins went on a 10-4 run early to hold an early advantage but saw the lead erased as the Bullets stormed back with a big run of their own. The Blue Jays cut the Gettysburg lead to four just before the end of the half until the Bullets ended the half with a big dunk from Cody Keifer to secure a 42-34 lead going into halftime.
Gettysburg carried the momentum into the second half pushing their lead to 14 points with four minutes left in the third quarter. While Hopkins was able to hold the Bullets to just 10 points in the final quarter, their late surge was not enough to overcome the deficit and they came up just short. Bugarinovic once again led the Blue Jays in points with 16 and also contributed with nine rebounds. Sophomores Gene Williams and Matt Billups combined for 23 points for the Jays.
Despite the tough loss to Gettysburg, the Blue Jays look poised and confident on the court and are looking forward to taking on future conference opponents. Hopkins will return to the court this Saturday, as they travel to Allentown, Pa. to face off against the Muhlenberg Mules. The game is scheduled to start promptly at 2 p.m. in the Memorial Gym.
