Jan. 10, 2012

Box Score

ALLENTOWN, PA - Johns Hopkins junior Adam Spengler poured in a career-high 28 points to lead Johns Hopkins to a 75-56 come-from-behind win at Muhlenberg on Tuesday night in Centennial Conference action. The Blue Jays match their biggest win ever (+19) at Memorial Hall as they improve to 8-4 on the season and 4-1 in conference play. The Mules, winners of three straight and six of their last seven, fall to 9-3 overall and 3-3 in the Centennial.

uhlenberg used an 11-0 run late in the first half to turn a one-point game into a 12 point advantage with 56.7 ticks on the clock before a George Bugarinovic jumper at 25.8 to give the Mules a 38-28 lead at the break. Spencer Liddic and Malique Killing combined for nine of the 12 points during the spurt that spanned just three minutes. Killing capped the run with a fast-break layup, two of his 11 first half points.

The second half was a different story as the Blue Jays opened the half on a 20-6 run to take a 48-44 lead. Sophomore Daniel Corbett got things going with a back-door layup just nine seconds in followed by a triple from Spengler, the second of his career-high five on the night, to make it a five-point game. Killing got four straight points for the Mules, sandwiched around a free throw from senior Tim McCarty and the lead was back to eight at 17:41. Spengler and junior Alex Pandrangi cut the deficit back to three before a Liddic bucket in the paint pushed it back to five.

Aleksandar Nikolic then hit a jumper followed by back-to-back buckets from Pandrangi and Hopkins had its first lead since 5:37 in the first half. Freshman Jimmy Hammer and Corbett drained buckets from downtown on back-to-back possessions and Hopkins led 51-46 at 11:44. Following a James Albano layup, Bugarinovic and Spengler took over, combining to score 19 straight points in a 20-4 run that gave the Blue Jays a 71-52 lead with 1:42 to play. And that would be the difference.

It was a tightly contested first half with five ties and four lead changes before the Mules' late charge to end the half. Spengler tied the game at 16 apiece at the midway point but a triple from Killing pushed the lead back to Muhlenberg. Hammer drained a jumper 41 seconds later to make it a one-point game, but Kevin Hargrove answered with back-to-back baskets and the Mules led 23-18. The Blue Jays followed up with six unanswered points to go up 24-23 on Pandrangi's layup at 5:37. But it would be short-lived as Liddic hit for two in the paint to ignite that 11-0 run.

Spengler was nearly perfect from the floor in the game, going 8-of-8 from the field, 5-of-5 from three-point and 7-of-8 from the free throw line for his game and career-high 28 points. He also grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists in 27 minutes of action. Bugarinovic (11 points) and Pandrangi (10 points) also finished in double figures. Liddic led the Mules with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Killing put up 16 and Hargrove finished with 11.

Hopkins shot 61.9 percent for the second half and finished at a 54.2 percent clip for the game. The Blue Jays also shot a solid 41.2 percent from three-point and went 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) from the line in the second half. Muhlenberg shot 44.4 percent from the field in the first, but just 21.9 percent in the second, including a 1-of-15 showing from three-point for the game. The Mules also converted just nine of 19 free throw attempts for the game. The 19 point win matches the Blue Jays' largest win ever at Memorial Hall, the last time was a 64-45 win on January 6, 1974.

Hopkins returns to action on Thursday, January 12 as the Blue Jays host the Swarthmore Garnet. The Centennial Conference tilt is slated for a 6:00 pm tip.