Jan. 14, 2012

Box Score

HAVERFORD, PA - The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team trailed for all of about four minutes on Saturday before earning a 66-57 win at Haverford to sweep the season series. The Blue Jays improve to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in the Centennial Conference, while the Fords slip to 5-10 and 3-5 in conference. Freshman George Bugarinovic posted a double-double to lead the Blue Jays in scoring for the second straight game.

After missing on its first five shots of the game but falling behind by just a single bucket, Hopkins got on the board and strung together a 21-2 run to take a 17-point lead just past the midway point in the half. Much like it has been all season for the Blue Jays, the scoring was balanced during the run as nine different players contributed in the points column. Bugarninovic got things going with a bucket at 15:58, followed by a Tim McCarty steal and a free throw from junior Alex Pandrangi that gave the Blue Jays the lead, as it turned out it would be the only lead change of the game. The Fords were only able to get as close as 13 points before the break as the teams traded buckets over the final seven minutes.

Trailing 33-19 at the break, Haverford was able to cut the deficit down to 10 just over three minutes in, thanks in part to back-to-back three-pointers from Ian Goldberg and Joel Michel. Bugarinovic would score six unanswered points for the Blue Jays though to push the lead to 16 at 43-27. The Fords came back again, with a 7-2 spurt, capped off by a fast-break layup from Gibby Graves to make it a nine-point game with just over 10 minutes to play.

Hopkins built its lead back up to 14 before Haverford once again chipped it back down to 10 on the strength of Goldberg's back-to-back buckets. The Blue Jays pushed their lead to as much as 15 over the next three-and-a-half minutes before the Fords made one last push. Hopkins led 58-43 with 2:58 to play after a pair of free throws from Bugarinovic, but Haverford held the visitors without a field goal for the remainder of the game. The Blue Jays would have to rely on their free throw shooting to hang on for the win. Though the Fords went 5-of-11 from the field in the final three minutes, the Blue Jays went 8-of-14 from the charity stripe to take the win.

Bugarinovic scored a game and career-high 22 points and grabbed a game-high 10 boards to post his second career double-double. Sophomore Daniel Corbett also finished in double-digits, chipping in 11 points while handing out three assists and swiping three steals. Cam Baker, who was held in check for much of the game, scored 12 of his 22 points in the final three minutes, and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Goldberg added 14 points for the Blue Jays, playing all but two minutes for the home team.

Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, January 18 as the Washington College Shoremen visit Goldfarb Gym. The Centennial Conference match-up is slated for a 7:00 pm tip.