The Hopkins men’s basketball team capped a record-setting regular season with a dominating 87-58 win over Washington College on Senior Day. The Goldfarb crowd stayed after the game for the presentation honoring the four Blue Jay seniors: Omar Randall, Luke Chambers, George Bugarinovic and Jimmy Hammer.
The No. 11 Blue Jays finished the regular season with an outstanding 22-3 record (16-2 Centennial Conference) and as the Centennial Conference champions. The Jays finished three games ahead of second-place Dickinson (13-5). The 16 conference wins break the record previously set in 2007 (15), and the 22 overall wins are the second most under current Head Coach Bill Nelson, who has held the post of head coach for the past 29 years.
The season was defined by two major factors: the leadership of captains Hammer and Bugarinovic and the depth of the bench. An outstanding combination of outside and inside presences, Hammer and Bugarinovic have made for the perfect duo throughout their four years at Hopkins. Nelson described the pair as “a coach’s dream” in the postgame ceremony. Perhaps the greatest testament to their work at Hopkins came in the matchup against Muhlenberg on Dec. 6. Both Hammer and Bugarinovic scored their 1,000th point in the same game, minutes away from each other.
The roommates made an appearance in the famous column “Faces in the Crowd” in Sports Illustrated later that month. Hammer, the three-point specialist, broke the Hopkins record for three-point field goals made on Senior Day, a mark held by former All-American and current USC coach Andy Enfield (’91). Bugarinovic ranks within the top-10 for points, rebounds, steals and blocks, a true jack-of-all-trades.
“They are some of the hardest workers on the team”, freshman point guard Jesse Flannery said. “It’s been great to have older guys who are as committed as they are.”
As far as the Blue Jay roster goes, Nelson showed that he wasn’t afraid to play anybody, and that many players would have an important role on the team. The most notable jump from the prior year was that of sophomore Ryan Curran. Curran, a 6’7” forward, was at times the Jays’ most reliable scorer, showing prowess in the post and behind the three-point line.
Junior guards Niko Kotoulas and Gene Williams played significant roles this year as well. Kotoulas was looked upon as one of the key energizers in the locker room and on the court. Williams is a pure shooter, who shot 40 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 6.6 points per game, good enough for fourth on the team.
Perhaps nobody on the team has played a bigger role than junior point guard Austin Vasiliadis. The floor general logged 29 minutes per game (second on the team) and dished out 114 assists, good enough for second in the Centennial Conference. Senior guard Omar Randall and junior forward Matt Billups both were looked upon as lockdown defenders. The 6’10” Billups led the team with over a block per game.
The obvious question, however, was what made this team different from the Hopkins teams of the past eight or so years. Bugarinovic praised the work ethic of the team as the difference-maker.
“We don’t have a single guy who slacks off,” Bugarinovic said. “We’re all close friends off the court, and it shows on the court.”
However, the season did not start out as planned, as the Jays dropped the two first home games to Alvernia and conference rival Franklin & Marshall.
“The turning point of the season was when we lost to F&M in late November”, guard Jesse Flannery said. “They just wanted it more than us that night.”
The Jays responded and proceeded to rip off 17 straight wins, including wins against No. 13 Centre, No. 4 Dickinson and a revenge victory over No. 16 F&M.
Hopkins will go into the Centennial Conference tournament as the odds on favorites to repeat its title performance from last year, seeking to become the first Hopkins team to ever repeat as Centennial Conference champions.
“Our team has [its] eyes set on winning the conference, which has been our goal all year,” Hammer said. “It is very possible that we win a few games and make a run in the NCAA tournament.”
Hopkins has not won a game in the NCAA tournament since 2007.
The Centennial Conference tournament will take place on Friday, Feb. 27 and 28 at Goldfarb Gymnasium. The Jays will take on the winner of the Gettysburg-McDaniel play-in game at 8:00 p.m. on Friday.
