CLAREMONT, CA – Johns Hopkins held Pomona-Pitzer to just two points in the final six minutes as the Blue Jays rallied from a 12-point deficit, but fell just short in a 57-56 loss to the Sagehens Saturday night in the Wells Classic. Hopkins saw its three-game win streak snapped as the Blue Jays slip to 4-3. Pomona-Pitzer improves to 3-2 overall, with its only two losses coming to NAIA schools.
Trailing 12 points with 8:08 to play in the game, sophomores Matt Chiusano and Austin Vasiliadis sandwiched buckets around a jumper Xavyr Moss to ignite a 15-4 run as the Blue Jays pulled within on with 2.8 seconds on the clock. Moss pushed the lead back to 10 with a basket at 6:57, but that would be the last points for the Sagehens for the next four a half minutes. A layup by junior George Bugarinovic followed by a deep three by classmate Jimmy Hammer and a pull-up jumper by Vasiliadis and the deficit was just three with 2:45 to play. Moss ended Pomona-Pitzer's drought with a jumper at the 2:28-mark, but Chiusano got that one back with a bucket and a foul with 34.4 ticks on the clock. He missed the ensuing free throw and the Blue Jays were unable to control the rebound as the ball went out of bounds.
With just two team fouls and trailing by three, Hopkins was forced to foul five times in a 17-second span. Jake Klewer was finally sent to the line on a one-and-one and he missed the front end. Hammer grabbed the rebound and Vasiliadis eventually found a wide-open Gene Williams under the basket for an easy layup. With just 2.8 seconds to go, the Blue Jays fouled again and once again Klewer missed the front-end of a one-and-one. Bugarinovic grabbed the rebound with one second to go but his 70-foot heave just missed the mark at the buzzer.
The first half was just a precursor to the exciting finish as the lead changed hands 10 times; there were three ties and a banked-in three at the buzzer. Williams gave Hopkins an early 3-2 lead with a triple at the 17:53-mark in the first half but Michael Cohen swung the lead back to Pomona with a jumper, followed by a Moss three-pointer. The Blue Jays responded with back-to-back buckets from downtown by senior Daniel Corbett and Hammer to go up 9-7.
The teams traded buckets and Hopkins led 11-9 on a Bugarinovic jumper at the 15:38-mark. Moss tied the game up just 23 seconds later with a jumper that kick-started a 10-1 run and saw the Sagehens take a 19-12 lead just five and a half minutes later. Hopkins responded with a quick 8-0 run, capped by a Luke Chambers bucket in the paint, to take a 20-19 lead. Once again, the teams traded baskets and Hopkins led 28-25 with one minute to play on a Vasiliadis drive to the basket. John Weiss tied the game on the other end with a three-pointer with 37.2 seconds left and on the other end, Bugarinovic took a tough shot in traffic that missed the mark. Weiss got the rebound with time winding down and Nick Nordale threw up a 24-footer that banked in at the buzzer to give Pomona-Pitzer a 31-28 lead at the break.
Hopkins twice made it a one-point game early in the second half, but each time Pomona-Pizter answered. The second time, the Sagehens responded with an 18-7 burst to push out to a 12-point lead with 8:08 to play. Nordale, Moss and Weiss drained three-pointers on three straight possessions to get the run going. It would be the Sagehens' final run as they were held to just two baskets and turned the ball over six times in the final eight minutes.
Bugarinovic was the only Blue Jay to score in double digits, finishing with 12 points and a team high eight boards. Hammer and Vasiliadis finished with nine points apiece and Vasiliadis dished out six assists. Moss led three Sagehens in double figures with a game-high 17 points, while Klewer and Nordale chipped in 12 points each.
Hopkins returns home and returns to Centennial Conference play on Tuesday, December 2 against Gettysburg. Tip-off at Goldfarb Gym is slated for 8:00 pm.