BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins had to stave off an impressive second-half rally by visiting Haverford but held on for a 72-67 win in Centennial Conference action Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays earn their fourth win in their last five outings to improve to 9-6 overall and 5-3 in conference play. The Fords fall to 5-8 on the season and 3-5 in the Centennial.
Haverford closed out the half with four unanswered points, including a fast-break layup by Gibby Graves at the buzzer to make it a 44-21 game at the break. The Fords didn't miss a beat to start the second half, as they exchanged buckets with the Blue Jays over the opening three minutes and Hopkins led 50-28. But a Brett Cohen fast-break bucket at the 16:47 mark ignited a 17-4 Fords' run that saw the visitors chop the deficit from 22 to just nine with 10:55 to play in the game. Four different players combined for the 17 Haverford points, led by Cohen (five points) and Cam Baker (seven).
Hopkins pushed the lead back to 12 with four straight points for senior Adam Spengler, bookended around a Baker free throw. James Levine came right back for Haverford, sandwiching a layup and a three-point bucket around a George Bugarinovic jumper to cut the Blue Jays' lead back to nine with 6:18 to go. The teams went back-and-forth over the ensuing three minutes and Hopkins led 67-57 following a Bugarinovic jumper.
The Fords were not going away however and four straight points from Baker made the deficit just six points with less than three minutes to play. Bugarinovic twice made it an eight-point game with buckets in the paint, including a fast-break dunk off a Baker turnover. But Anthony Reyes and Baker came right back with back-to-back jumpers and the lead dwindled to four with 38 ticks on the clock.
Hopkins turned the ball over following Baker's bucket and Haverford had two chances on the possession but both of Baker's shots missed the mark. Spengler corralled the rebound on the second miss and was sent to the line with 11.6 seconds to play. Spengler hit the front end of the one-and-one to push the lead to five. He missed on the second and Graves grabbed the carom. Reyes got off a quick shot from downtown, but it hit the rim and the ball went out of bounds for the Blue Jays as time wound down.
It was a tale of two halves, as it was Hopkins that turned in the impressive performance in the first half, shooting 62.1 percent from the floor and taking a 44-21 lead into the locker room. The teams traded buckets to open the game, but then the Blue Jays went on a 17-2 tear to storm out to a 19-4 lead with less than eight minutes gone in the half. Haverford ended a three-and-a-half minute scoring drought with a Baker jumper at 12:22. However, Hopkins responded with an 18-3 run fueled by freshman Matt Chiusano, who scored 12 points in less than six minutes to stake the Blue Jays to a 37-9 lead.
Five straight points for the Fords trimmed the deficit to 23 points with 2:56 to go in the half. Hopkins would build its lead back to 27 points, capped by a three-pointer from freshman Gene Williams. But Haverford would have the final say of the half, and take the momentum into the locker room, with its four-point spurt to end the period.
Bugarinovic paced the Blue Jays, posting his second double double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He also dished out a game and career-high seven assists and swiped one steal. Chiusano was the only other Blue Jay in double figures with his career-high 12 points. Cohen led all scorers with 20 points and five steals while Baker added 19 points, two assists and three steals. Hopkins shot 56.9 percent from the field, while Haverford finished with a 40.3 percent clip after shooting just 29.6 percent in the first half.
Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, January 16 as 14th-ranked Franklin & Marshall visits Goldfarb Gym. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 pm.