This past weekend the Hopkins men’s basketball team took to the court to put an exclamation point on a very successful regular season.
In an afternoon meeting at Goldfarb Gym, the Blue Jays enjoyed every bit of their home court advantage with an 87-58 victory over Washington College.
Coming off of a resounding away victory versus in-conference opponent McDaniel, Coach Bill Nelson’s squad took to the hardwood both to firm up its spot at the top of the Centennial Conference standings and to celebrate the four graduating seniors in their final home game.
The standout foursome of guards Jimmy Hammer and Omar Randall and forwards Luke Chambers and George Bugarinovic combined for well over half of the Jays points totalling 47.
The contest started close and stayed that way throughout much of the first half. In the first 15 minutes of the game, five lead changes and eight ties occurred with the Jays only able to extend up to a 23-21 lead.
The home team began to gain momentum and separate itself going into the half, however, with a steal by junior guard Austin Vasiliadis that led to a Hammer three-pointer.
This shot marked the senior guard’s 235th bucket from downtown in his career, passing legendary Blue Jay Andy Enfield (currently the men’s coach at University of Southern California).
This shot vaulted Hammer into sole possession of first on the program’s all time three-point shooting list, breaking a record that had stood since 1991.
“It feels great to be the program’s all time three-point leader,” Hammer said. “It’s truly an honor, and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates who got me the ball in perfect situations.”
The closest the Shoremen would come the rest of the game was with 2:32 left in the half when freshman guard John Weston finished a fast break, sparked by a Hopkins turnover, with a layup to cut the Jays’ lead to four.
Following a flurry of turnovers by both teams in the final minute, another Vasiliadis steal led to yet another Jays three-point bucket, this time by sophomore forward Ryan Curran. Going into the half the Jays sported a 35-25 lead.
Coming out of the locker-room to begin the second half, Bugarinovic snagged an offensive rebound and followed it up with a mid-range jumper to extend the Blue Jay lead to 12.
After a brief run of five unanswered points by the Shoremen, the home team truly began to settle down and build its lead. Steals by Bugarinovic and Vasiliadis sparked easy and instant offense for the Jays.
The layup off of the Bugarinovic steal initiated an offensive onslaught and a 14-2 run that left the Jays perched with a comfortable 21-point lead.
Even with a 10-2 run later in the game from the Shoremen, the Jays were able to comfortably put their opponents away, extending a continuously growing margin of victory to 30 with a free throw from freshman forward Kyle Doran.
Hammer ended the game leading all scorers with 20 points (going 7-13 from downtown) and contributing eight rebounds as well.
Chambers and junior guard Gene Williams chipped in 12 points each. Vasiliadis was a menace on defense with six steals while facilitating the Jays’ offense on the other end of the court with five assists.
With this victory, the Jays finished their regular season at 22-3, including an impressive 16-2 conference record.
The team now looks forward to the Centennial Conference Championship tournament, either facing McDaniel or Gettysburg College in its first game.
The Jays will return to action Friday night at 8 p.m. in Goldfarb Gym for the beginning of tournament play.
Winners of semifinal games on Friday will meet in the championship game for the Centennial Conference title, which again will be at Goldfarb Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
