Austin Vasiliadis, Johns Hopkins
BALTIMORE, MD - The 18th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat visiting McDaniel, 65-59, on Tuesday night in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays win their 13th straight game to tie the program record as they improve to 16-2 overall and 10-1 in the CC. The Green Terror meanwhile fall to 11-6 on the season and 6-5 in the conference.
Trailing 32-25 at the half, Hopkins opened the period with an 11-2 run to take a two-point lead on a Jimmy Hammer pull-up three from the top of the key at the 15:45-mark. Sophomore Ryan Curran sandwiched a pair of layups around a Phillip Perry bucket and it was a five-point game 53 seconds in. Hammer then drained a jumper, followed by a Curran bucket in the paint and the deficit was one before Hammer's triple, his first of three, put JHU ahead.
The teams went back-and-forth and Tim Stewart tied it at 42 apiece with 11:42 to go. But a Matt Billups layup on the other end started a quick six-point spurt by the Blue Jays that saw them go up 48-42. The Green Terror answered with a seven-point run, capped by a three-point play by Stewart to give McDaniel the lead at the 6:52-mark. Billups swung the lead back to Hopkins with a pair of shots from the free throw line and then senior George Bugarinovic had a fast-break layup to put Hopkins on top 52-49.
The lead seesawed up and down and twice McDaniel tied it in the ensuing two minutes. Andrew Merlo evened the score at 57-all with a bucket from downtown at 2:37. But senior Omar Randall gave the Blue Jays back the lead for good with a 15-foot jumper. After a turnover by each team, Stewart came up empty for the Green Terror and Randall corralled the rebound and was fouled with 15.2 seconds to play. He made both shots to make it a 61-57 game and cap a streak of nine straight points for the senior.
On the ensuing possession, Merlo was fouled on a three-point attempt in the corner with 9.2 ticks on the clock. He made two of three shots and down two, the Terror were forced to foul. Hammer would seal the game at the line, as he was perfect from the stripe in two trips in the closing nine seconds.
The Terror defense held the Blue Jays without a field goal in the game's first eight minutes as they pushed out to a 12-3 lead. Hopkins chipped away and cut the deficit to five with 10:13 to play in the half on a three-pointer by junior Gene Williams. McDaniel kept Hopkins at arms' length and was able to build its lead to 10 with 6:07 on the clock on a Duane Echols three-point play.
The Blue Jays kept battling and trimmed the deficit to four thanks to an 8-2 run, capped by a pair of Bugarinovic free throws with 2:50 to play. Nick Perugino made it a six-point game with one of two free throws for the Terror. Stewart than sandwiched a pair of buckets, including one at the buzzer, around a Billups jumper and McDaniel led 32-25 at the break.
Hammer led the Blue Jays with 19 points while grabbing five rebounds. Bugarinovic and Billups added 10 points apiece while Bugarinovic also had a game-high nine rebounds. Stewart led all scorers with 30 points and was the only Green Terror in double figures. Hopkins struggled from the floor in the first half, shooting 28.6 percent, but rebounded with a 50.0 percent showing in the second. McDaniel on the other end shot 56.0 percent in the first, but just 33.3 percent in the second. The Blue Jays also went 93.1 percent from the line, converting 27 of 29 shots.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 31 as the Blue Jays host the Haverford Fords. The 14th annual Wall-O'Mahony game is slated for a 1:00 pm tip at Goldfarb Gym.