After a tough loss to Franklin & Marshall last week, the men's basketball team traveled to Gettysburg on Tuesday to dominate the host team with a 68-52 win that brought them to 4-2 for the season.
"We knew coming into this week having only two games before winter break that they were both critical,” sophomore forward Ryan Curran said. “We had three good practices where everyone was locked in and focused, which helped us prepare for Gettysburg very well. We also went 0-2 last year against Gettysburg, so we definitely were looking for some revenge."
From early on in the game, Hopkins was able to push out to a 10-4 lead. With only one Gettysburg player scoring in double figures, the Blue Jays showcased stellar defense against their Centennial Conference opponents.
"I think the key to our success was our defense, which was also our focus coming into the game,” junior guard Austin Vasiliadis said. “Gettysburg does a great job of moving without the ball and back cutting, but we made things very tough for them. We also did a great job contesting three-point shooters, holding them to 1-17 from three."
Gettysburg was held to a 36.2 field goal percentage, and with their length and athleticism, Hopkins was able to force 21 turnovers out of them.
"They run a Princeton style with a lot of back cuts,” senior forward George Bugarinovic said. “Our defense was prepared for this and did a solid job."
Bugarinovic also led the Blue Jays in scoring, with 13 crucial points and six rebounds and five impressive steals.
Hopkins was able to shut down their offense by denying their backdoor cuts and bringing lots of help-side defense. But as great as the defense was for the team, the offense was just as imposing.
"Our offense was really in sync last night as we were able to balance out our inside and outside scoring and win with a strong field goal percentage,” senior guard Omar Randall said.
With sharpshooting senior guard Jimmy Hammer drawing the attention of the defense and playing more of a facilitating role, junior guard Gene Williams was able to come off the bench to shoot 3-4 from the three-point line and score 11 points. The team got balanced scoring from throughout the roster, thanks to point guard Vasiliadis getting everyone involved. As a unit, they moved the ball around and tried to get the ball inside to spark their offense.
"We put a focus on quick ball movement and making the extra pass,” Williams said. “Gettysburg plays great defense. We knew it was going to be a challenge."
The bench stepped up to show a great performance.
"Our bench also played extremely well and we also committed very few turnovers, which is always important when it comes to winning games,” Randall said,
Hopkins went into the game with a plan to play stingy defense, which would, in turn, spark their offense, and they did just that.
"Our main strategy was to shut them down defensively and try to get the the ball inside on offense,” Hammer said. “We definitely executed these two strategies as George (Bugarinovic), Ryan (Curran), and Matt (Billups) provided great offensive scoring for us, while we were able to shut down Gettysburg on defense."
The team did get outrebounded 34-26 and plan to improve their rebounding, as well as their outside shooting.
"We have to be stronger in the defensive glass and prevent teams from offensive rebounds and second chance opportunities," Randall said,
The loose balls and offensive rebounds the Jays relinquished could have cost them the game.
"Our field goal and three-point shooting percentages [have] been down this year, so I think we can continue to improve in this part of our game,” Hammer said. “We can also improve on our free throw shooting, which will just take more repetitions in practice."
Players were somewhat disappointed about missing easy shots such as layups or free throws and said they plan to focus more on them during practice.
Looking forward, the Jays have just one last game before winter break, and they are dedicated to making sure they win that last one.
"We play Muhlenberg Saturday at home, and that is our last game before break,” Curran said. “They are also on the upper end of our conference, so we know as a team to remain focused for the remainder of the week before we get on the court Saturday."
The Jays will be back in action at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the Goldfarb Gymnasium.
