LEXINGTON, VA – In action for the first time in 23 days, the Johns Hopkins men's basketball showed a little rust early but shook it off quickly en route to a 66-51 win over 13th-ranked Centre College Monday afternoon at the Washington & Lee Tournament. The Blue Jays improve to 6-2 with the win while dropping the previously unbeaten Colonels to 8-1 on the year. It is Hopkins' first win over a ranked team since a 67-66 win over 15th-ranked St. Mary's on November 19, 2011.
Centre, which last played just nine days ago, got off to a hot start and led 12-5 with just over seven minutes gone in the game. Hopkins got pulled within two on a Jimmy Hammer jumper, followed by a three-pointer from junior Gene Williams at the 11:13-mark. But the Colonels answered with back-to-back buckets from downtown and the lead was back to eight. The Blue Jays called timeout to regroup and it worked. Hopkins closed the half on a 19-7 run to take a 29-25 lead at the break. Coming out of the timeout, Hammer and Williams sandwiched threes around a jumper by Blake Scinta to cut the deficit to four. Sophomore Nikhil Panu then drained a three from the top of the key and it was a one-point game with 6:21 to play.
The teams traded three-pointers and Centre led 23-22 just over a minute later. Scinta then pushed the lead to thee with a pair of free throws. Senior George Bugarinovic cut the deficit back to one with a bucket in the paint and then Williams swung the lad in the Blue Jays' favor with a triple at the 2:59-mark. Hammer made it a four-point game with a layup at 1:36 and the JHU defense forced a pair of missed Centre shots in the final minute.
Hopkins picked up where it left off at the half with back-to-back threes to ignite a 13-4 run that saw the Blue Jays' lead swell to 13 by the 15:12-mark. Sophomore Ryan Curran and senior Omar Randall fueled the run with 10 of the Jays' 13 points. The Colonels twice cut the deficit to 10 in the ensuing three minutes, but could get no closer as the Blue Jays' lead grew to as much as 18. Will Maguire hit a late three for Centre to account for the 15-point margin at the final horn.
Nine different players scored for the Blue Jays in the win, led by Hammer's 16 points and Williams' 14. The two combined to go eight of 14 from three-point range as the team dropped a season-high 13 three-pointers on 59.1 percent shooting. The 13 threes are just one shy of the program record and the most since JHU hit 13 versus Keystone on November 20, 2004. Hammer also handed out five assists and junior Austin Vasiliadis dished four assists as the Blue Jays turned it over just five times. Josh Karsner led the Colonels with a game-high 21 points, including five three-pointers, while Tyler Wesley had a game-high 13 boards. The Blue Jays held the Colonels to just 37 percent shooting, while shooting 49 percent on the other end.
Hopkins advances to the championship game of the W&L Tournament and will face the host Generals. Tip-off is slated for a 4:00 pm start on Tuesday, December 30.