BALTIMORE, MD – Sophomore Gene Williams poured in a career-high 25 points to lead Johns Hopkins to a 91-63 win over visiting Washington College on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference (CC) action. The Blue Jays improve to 9-7 overall and 6-3 in the conference, while the Shoremen slip to 4-12 and 3-6 in the CC.
With the game tied at seven points apiece following a Pat Morgan three-pointer, Hopkins retook the lead on back-to-back threes by junior Jimmy Hammer and Williams to spark a 12-0 run that saw JHU take a 19-7 lead with 13:15 to go in the half. Washington College stemmed the tide with a three from Austin Murphy and a pair of free throws by Bryan Shapiro to cut the deficit to seven. But the Blue Jays came right back with a 7-1 spurt, capped by a Niko Kotoulas lay-up, to push out to a 13-point lead with 9:40 on the clock. Once again the Shoremen came back, as Morgan drained a bucket from downtown to ignite a 13-3 run by the visitors as they made it just a three-point game on a Sean Flanigan lay-up.
Hopkins called timeout to regroup and it worked as Williams scored on a jumper to kick-start a 13-0 run. Williams really got things going for the Blue Jays, scoring the first seven points of the run before Kotoulas, George Bugarinovic and Austin Vasiliadis got in on the action. Bugarinovic capped the run with a lay-up off a Shoremen turnover with 1:41 to play in the half to give the Blue Jays a 42-26 advantage. Washington College cut the deficit back to 11 with two Morgan free throws and a trey from Tom Falconiero but a Kotoulas bucket in the waning seconds accounted for 44-31 Hopkins lead at the half.
The teams traded buckets to open the half and it was a 10-point game at the 17:42-mark. Hopkins would push out to a 22-point lead over the next 5:41 to put the game away. Williams, Kotoulas and Bugarinovic combined for 13 of the Blue Jays' 17 points during the burst. The Shoremen could get no closer than 19 over the final 12 minutes of the game and the Blue Jays pushed their lead to as much as 29 before taking the 28-point win.
Williams finished with a game and career-high 25 points, going 10-of-14 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from downtown. Kotoulas also punched up a career-high as he finished with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting while also grabbing six rebounds and handing out three assists. Bugarinovic added 14 points, seven boards, two blocks and three assists. Hammer dished out a game and career-high seven assists as Hopkins went 37-of-61 (60.7%) from the field. It is the first time that JHU has shot better than 60 percent from the field since shooting 64.9 percent versus Penn State Altoona on January 4, 2009. The 28-point margin of victory is the Blue Jays' largest in the series, which dates back to 1928. Morgan led the Shoremen with 16 points while Flanigan chipped in 10.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 25 as the Blue Jays take on the Muhlenberg Mules in the 13th annual Wall-O'Mahony game. Tip-off at Goldfarb Gym is set for 3:00 pm.