The No. 22 Hopkins men’s basketball team put their undefeated season on the line when they welcomed the Moravian College Greyhounds to the Goldfarb Gym this past Sunday.
Junior guard Joey Kern felt confident in his team’s chances of winning going into the matchup. He explained that the team had a great series of practices leading up to their game.
“We’ve done a great job preparing every day for our next opponents,” Kern said.
Sophomore forward Tom Quarry made the first points in the game. He started the scoring with a three-pointer and a layup.
Kern was also able to drill a three-point shot of his own to put the Blue Jays up 8-0 less than two minutes into the game.
However, a layup in the paint by Moravian stopped the bleeding and gave the Greyhounds some much needed momentum, which they promptly turned into a 7-2 run.
The next few minutes were intense as points were traded back and forth between the two squads while the Blue Jays battled against the Greyhounds to maintain their lead.
Near the midpoint of the first half, the Blue Jays began to stake their claim for control with a pair of three-point buckets to go ahead 21-13.
A trio of points from Moravian cut the lead to five, but that would be as narrow as the deficit would be for the rest of the half as Hopkins poured on eight straight points to extend the lead to 13.
Following some more back and forth baskets, the score sat at 33-25 in favor of Hopkins with 3:42 left.
Looking to gather some momentum before heading into the locker room, junior guard Conner Delaney led the Blue Jays on a 15-6 run, scoring eight of the 15 to give the Blue Jays a convincing 48-31 lead to end the first half.
Just as they had done to start the first half, Hopkins got off to a hot start in the second half.
Quarry once again got the scoring party started with a layup just 11 seconds into the half. This fired up the Jays as they continued to score point after point.
Three of his teammates would combine for another 10 points to put the Blue Jays ahead 60-31.
Now behind by 29, the Greyhounds were able to acquire some life after a three-point basket kicked off seven straight points for them.
Delaney hit a free throw to end the scoreless streak and kick off another back and forth scoring affair.
After a pair of free throws and a made jump shot from Moravian, Kern buried back-to-back three-pointers with the help of a pair of assists from Delaney.
A steal by sophomore forward Braeden Johnson allowed Delaney to hit a shot inside the paint to put the score at 72-44.
Moravian nailed a two-point basket to try and get some energy back, but a couple of free throws and an additional five points from Delaney gave Hopkins a 33-point advantage with 8:29 left on the clock.
The Greyhounds managed to cut the lead to 25 but failed to do much damage to the commanding Hopkins lead.
With the game firmly in hand, Hopkins continued to pour it on their opponents and went as far ahead as 35 points.
As the horn sounded to mark the end of the second half of play, the Blue Jays emerged victorious by a score of 92-62.
With such an impressive offensive performance came equally impressive offensive statistics on the Hopkins stat sheet.
Delaney led the way with 29 points on the day as the junior shot 11-12 from the floor and was 4-4 from behind the three-point arc.
Quarry also turned in a quality performance with 18 points of his own to go along with his seven rebounds and his perfect 9-9 free throw shooting.
Rounding out the double-digit scorers was Kern, who ended with 12 points, all coming from three-pointers.
Hopkins ended the day shooting 29-54 from the field, 15-30 from three and 19-23 from the free throw line.
They also out rebounded the Greyhounds 41-25 as Hopkins displayed their dominance on both ends of the court.
Kern explained that he feels that the attitude and chemistry on the team is something special, adding that he’s excited to see what the team is capable of as they move forward in the season and closer to the final few games.
“We’re working hard night in and night out with championships on our mind,” Kern said. “This is a hungry group, and I’m excited for the rest of the year.”
The victory improves the Blue Jays’ record to 6-0 on the season while the Greyhounds fall to 4-3.
Hopkins will next be in action this Saturday as they take on the Muhlenberg College Mules in a Centennial Conference matchup.
