WESTMINSTER, MD – The 13th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team got a combined 41 points from senior George Bugarinovic and sophomore Ryan Curran to defeat host McDaniel, 70-56, on Wednesday night. The Blue Jays clinched the top seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament and will host the tournament for the first time since 2007. Hopkins improves to 21-3 overall and 15-2 in the CC while McDaniel falls to 14-10 on the season and 9-8 in the conference.
Leading by just two, Bugarinovic sank a pair of free throws with 59 seconds remaining in the first half to kick-start a 9-3 spurt that saw Hopkins' lead grow to double digits by the 16:20-mark of the second. Bugarinovic and Curran opened the second stanza with a jumper and a three to go up 40-31. An Andrew Merlo three-pointer trimmed the deficit to six and ended a four and a half minute scoring drought. But Curran answered with back-to-back buckets in the paint and the Blue Jays led 44-34.
Tim Stewart pulled the Terror back within eight at 15:22 but an Austin Vasiliadis triple pushed the lead back to 11 and ignite a 13-3 JHU run. Junior Gene Williams capped the run with a bucket from downtown and Hopkins was ahead 57-39 with 12:38 to go. The teams traded shots over the ensuing two minutes before back-to-back three-pointers by senior Jimmy Hammer and Williams swelled the lead to 21. Nic Martin and Wesley Brooks answered with buckets for the Green Terror, but a three-point play by Bugarinovic gave the Blue Jays a 68-48 lead with 6:54 to play. McDaniel twice trimmed the deficit to 14 in the final five minutes, but that's as close as the home team would get.
This one was close early as the first three and a half minutes saw six lead changes. Bugarinovic put Hopkins on top 8-7 with a layup and senior Omar Randall made it a three-point game with a tip-in at 15:50. But a Brooks basket from three-point tied the game at 10 apiece. Hopkins went back up by three on a conventional three-point play by Hammer at the 14:33-mark. The teams went back-and-forth as the lead seesawed up and down. Sophomore Nikhil Panu made it a four-point game at 12:11, followed by Luke Chambers jumper.
A Cameron Royster free throw and a Tim Stewart dunk kick-started a 10-2 McDaniel run that saw the home team take a 24-22 lead on a Stewart three-point play. The Terror lead didn't last long as Curran sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at the 7:05-mark. Williams then hit a three-pointer and Hopkins had the lead, as it turned out, for good. McDaniel was keeping this one close however as the Blue Jays could extend their lead to more than four for the remainder of the half.
Bugarinovic led the Blue Jays with 25 points, one shy of his career high, on an impressive 11-of-12 showing from the field. He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double and sixth of the season. Curran added 16 points and junior Austin Vasiliadis handed out eight assists. Stewart led McDaniel with 21 points, 14 of which came in the first half, and Merlo added 12 points. This is the seventh straight time and 16th time this season that Hopkins has held its opponent to less than 60 points.
Hopkins closes out the regular season on Saturday, February 21 as the Washington College Shoremen visit Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays will honor their four seniors prior to the game, which is slated for a 3:00 pm tip.