The Hopkins men’s basketball team picked up two wins this past week against the McDaniel College Green Terror and the Marymount University Saints. The scores were 77-61 and 57-41, respectively.
The Blue Jays were led by sophomore guard Joey Kern in the win on Tuesday night against the Green Terror, as he scored 18 points and added two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Kern started the game red-hot, scoring three three-pointers in the first two minutes of the game. The Blue Jays kept up the pace, pushing their lead to 23-9 with 10:52 to go in the first half.
With eight minutes to go in the half, junior forward Harry O’Neil went on a run of his own, scoring six unanswered points and increasing the Blue Jays’ lead from seven to 13. The Blue Jays finished the first half with a 42-29 lead, thanks to a three pointer with only four seconds left from senior guard Michael Gardner.
The second half opened with the Green Terror cutting into the Jays’ lead, cutting it to only eight points before Gardner and sophomore guard Conner Delaney hit back-to-back three-pointers to kick start a 10-0 run that pushed Hopkins out to a 18-point lead.
From that point on, the game was all but over as McDaniel would not come within 15 points of Hopkins the rest of the night. After the game, Kern talked about how the team was able to dominate the Green Terror.
“We did a really good job shooting behind the arc tonight and coming up with some stops down the stretch,” Kern said.
Hopkins had five scorers in double digits on the night and made 13 threes in the game, which fueled their 16-point win. Gardner finished with 13 points, Delaney finished with 10 points, O’Neil finished with 13 points and freshman forward Tom Quarry finished with 12 points.
On Sunday afternoon, Delaney led Hopkins with a game-high 18 points, in a rout of Marymount in non-Conference action.
The game got off to a slow start, as a layup by senior forward Daniel Vila was the only points scored in the first five minutes of the game. The teams would then trade baskets, and it was all tied up at nine with nine minutes to play.
From that point, another layup by Vila sparked the team, going on a 9-0 run over the next eight minutes of the game to go up 18-9. A pair of jump shots by Delaney and Kern put the Blue Jays up 23-11 at halftime.
The Blue Jays opened up the second half on a 9-5 spurt. Delaney led this spurt, scoring five of the nine Hopkins points during the run. This pushed the lead to 32-16 in favor of the Blue Jays.
Marymount hit a three to get within 10 with just under nine minutes to go, but it was Delaney and senior guard Joey Fitzpatrick who ended the Saints’ run. Together, they scored seven straight points to build the lead back up to 45-28.
With the McDaniel win, Hopkins is 1-0 in the Centennial Conference and currently sits at second place in the Conference standings. The Blue Jays’ next opportunity will be tonight, Nov. 29 against the Swarthmore Garnet, who currently sit at the No. 1 spot in the Conference and ranks eighth in the nation. The tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Goldfarb Gym.
