Nov. 30, 2011

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Alex Zurn's 25-foot heave as time expired missed the mark and Johns Hopkins held on for a 52-49 win over visiting Gettysburg Wednesday night in Centennial Conference men's basketball action. The Blue Jays win their second straight to improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference, while the Bullets see their three-game win streak snapped as they fall to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Centennial.

Hopkins had pushed its lead to 11 after a layup and a three-point play from sophomore Aleksandar Nikolic with 11:16 to play in the game. The Bullets stepped up their pressure and put together an 8-3 run with Christian Bors scoring all eight points for Gettysburg to make it a 39-34 game with 8:41 on the clock. The lead yo-yoed up and down over the next four minutes as the visitors trimmed the deficit to just two on a Joe Emerusabe layup at 3:38. Junior Adam Spengler answered with a three-pointer from the top of the key to push it back to five.

Bors was fouled on the ensuing possession and went to the line having gone 9-of-10 in the game's opening 37 minutes. He missed the first but made the second and Hopkins led 49-45. The teams traded trips to the charity strip followed by a bucket from sophomore Daniel Corbett as he drove the baseline and hit a layup to put Hopkins on top 51-46 with 2:13 on the clock. On the ensuing possession, Corbett blocked Larry Geedey's shot and corralled the rebound to give the Blue Jays possession. Hopkins couldn't convert and Emerusabe made the Blue Jays pay with an old-fashioned three-point play at 1:16.

Senior Tim McCarty missed from three on the other end and Bors was then fouled on the Bullets' next possession. But he missed his two from the line with McCarty controlling the rebound, however Corbett was called for a travel and Gettysburg took over. Zurn couldn't connect on an 18-footer and Corbett grabbed the rebound before being fouled. He hit one of two from the line and Hopkins led 52-49. Zurn grabbed the board on the miss and the Bullets brought the ball up before calling timeout with nine ticks on the clock. The Blue Jay defense pushed up high and the only chance for the Bullets was Zurn's heave from well beyond the arc that hit the rim as time expired.

Hopkins took a quick 5-0 lead before Gettysburg got things going, scoring eight straight points to take the lead at 14:42. Freshman Jimmy Hammer hit a runner with 10:04 to play to tie the game up at 11 and cap a 6-3 spurt for the Blue Jays. But Zurn answered with a three followed by a Trelease bucket in the paint and the Bullets were up by five. Bugarinovic then took over for the Blue Jays, scoring six straight points to pull Hopkins within one at 18-17. Nikolic would cap the firs-half scoring and a 6-0 Hopkins' run with a jumper in the paint with 21 ticks on the clock to send the Blue Jays into the half with a one-point lead.

Coming out of the half, the lead changed hands four times before the Blue Jays took the lead for good on a Bugarinovic layup at 17:43. Zurn and Derek Brooks sandwiched baskets around a pair of free throws from Bugarinovic and Hopkins was up 27-26. Spengler then hit a triple to kick-start a 10-0 that saw the Blue Jays take an 11-point lead with 11:16 to play on Nikolic's three-point play.

Bugarinovic led the Blue Jays with 13 points as he went 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-4 from the line with seven rebounds. Nikolic and Spengler chipped in nine points and eight points, respectively as Hopkins shot 40.0 percent for the game but 52.4 percent in the second half. Bors led all scorers with 20 points, going 10-of-14 from the free throw line and just missed a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. He was the only Bullet in double digits as they shot 40.9 percent for the game, but just 10.0 percent from three-point and 60.0 percent from the line.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, December 3 as the Blue Jays travel to Dickinson. The Centennial Conference match-up is set for a 4:00 pm tip-off.