CHESTERTOWN, MD – The 24th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team had four players score in double figures en route to an 88-73 win over host Washington College Wednesday night in Centennial Conference action. The win is the 11th-straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 14-2 overall and 8-1 in the CC. The Shoremen fall to 2-13 on the season and 2-6 in the conference. The Jays' 11-game win streak is the second longest in school history and the longest since the 1992-93 season.
John Weston tied the game, the fourth tie of the game, at eight points apiece just 4:13 into the game. Senior George Bugarinovic hit a layup on the other to put Hopkins ahead and ignite a 15-5 run that saw JHU go up 23-13. Bugarinovic book-ended the run with a bucket in the paint with 10:59 to play in the half. The Shoremen answered with a 6-2 spurt, capped by a Pat Morgan three-pointer to make it a 25-19 game just over two minutes later.
Sophomore Ryan Curran put the Blue Jays back up nine with a conventional three-point play at 8:10. The teams then traded buckets before a Weston free throw and a Sean Flanigan layup made it a 30-24 game with 4:20 to go. Bugarinovic ended a three-minute scoring drought with a bucket in the paint to kick-start a half-ending 12-1 run for the Blue Jays. Junior Austin Vasiliadis punctuated the run with back-to-back three-pointers in the final 64 second to send Hopkins into the half with a 42-25 lead.
The Blue Jays picked up where they left off at halftime and their lead swelled to 25 just 4:05 into the second. Three-pointers from seniors Jimmy Hammer and Omar Randall fueled the run as Hopkins went up 57-32. The Shoremen came right back with seven unanswered points to trim the deficit to 18 with 14:19 to play. Vasiliadis ended the run with a pair of free throws and Hopkins went on a 8-2 burst to go up 65-41 after two free throws from Randall.
The Shoremen kept chipping away and trimmed the deficit to 16 with 7:46 to play. Back-to-back baskets by freshman Kyle Doran and Curran pushed the lead back to 20. A 10-4 spurt by the hosts, fueled by consecutive three-pointers by James Drury and Morgan and Hopkins led 77-63 at the 3:48-mark. That's as close as Washington College would get as Hopkins went 11-of-14 from the free throw line in the final 3:36 to secure the win.
Bugarinovic led the Blue Jays with 19 points while Curran just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine boards. Vasiliadis posted his first career double-double with a career high 16 points and 11 assists. His 11 helpers are tied for the second most in school history and match his career high. Hammer also finished in double figures, chipping in 13 points, while going 3-of-3 from downtown. With his second three-point attempt of the night, Hammer broke Luke Busby's 21-year-old school record of 529. Drury led three Shoremen in double figures with a game-high 21 points and six assists. Dave Knox added 19 points, going 10-of-10 from the free throw line and Morgan added 12 points. Hopkins shot.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, January 24 as the Blue Jays make the trek to Allentown, PA to take on the Muhlenberg Mules. Tip-off at Memorial Hall is slated for 4:00 pm.