Feb. 22, 2012

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BALTIMORE, MD - Visiting Washington College sank four straight free throws in the final 28 seconds to seal a 56-53 win over Johns Hopkins and advance to the Centennial Conference semifinals on Wednesday night at Goldfarb Gym. The Blue Jays end their season at 15-11 for their most wins in four years. The Shoremen improve to 14-12 and snap a six-game losing streak, winning their first game in the month of February.

Freshman George Bugarinovic converted two free throws with 1:10 to play to put Hopkins up by two. But Kevin Breslin answered with a pull-up three-pointer as the clock ticked under one to swing the lead back in Washington College's favor. On the ensuing possession, junior Adam Spengler's jumper missed the mark and the ball caromed out of bounds to the Shoremen with 28 seconds to play. Forced to foul, the Blue Jays sent Sal Schittino to the line, who calmly hit both shots to push the lead to three. Hopkins brought the ball up the floor, but freshman Jimmy Hammer missed on a long distance three and Schittino was there for the rebound and was promptly fouled. Schittino once again hit both of his shots and the lead grew to five. The Blue Jays had two three-point shots in the closing seconds before sophomore Daniel Corbett hit a baseline jumper off the second miss to account for the final.

It was a close came from the opening whistle as befitting a series so closely contested for the last 84 years. The game saw a total of 12 lead changes and 11 ties while neither team could build more than a seven-point advantage. Washington College took an early two-point lead on a Breslin bucket in the paint, but Hopkins answered with a 9-2 spurt capped by a Connor McIntyre layup at 14:38. The Shoremen chipped the deficit back to three with back-to-back layups. But a Bugarinovic steal and dunk followed by a free throw from sophomore Aleksandar Nikolic made it a 12-6 game at the 11:56 mark.

Breslin ignited a 13-2 run by the Shoremen with a pair of free throws just 13 seconds later. Schittino put the punctuation on the run with a triple, one of just three Washington College had against the second-best three-point defense in the nation, at 5:59 to stake the visitors to a 19-14 lead. Hopkins answered with a run of its own, bookended by three-pointers from senior Tim McCarty and to put the Jays on top 23-19 at the 3:08 mark. The Shoremen got two free throws from Breslin and a pair from Schittino in the ensuing two minutes to make it a 23-23 game with 82 seconds remaining. Corbett hit the front-end on a trip to the charity stripe, but Breslin answered with a layup to put Washington College up 25-24. Junior Alex Pandrangi would send the Blue Jays into the half with a one-point lead after hitting two free throws with seven seconds left.

Coming out of the break, Tony Hawkins hit a jumper just 15 seconds into swing the lead back to Washington College. The lead would be short-lived however thanks to a Bugarinovic layup at 18:26. The lead continued to seesaw back-and-forth as neither team could take more than a three-point lead for the remainder of the half. In the end, it was free throw shooting that sealed for the Shoremen, though neither team had shot well from the line for the game. Hopkins, a 72 percent free throw shooting team on the season, was just 50.0 percent from the line for the game. Washington College, a 69 percent team for the season, was 65.2 percent from the line.

Bugarinovic led the Blue Jays with 14 points and eight rebounds, while he also had three steals. McCarty finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 boards in his final game at Goldfarb Gym. The game also marked the final one for senior co-captain Danny Gergen. Pandrangi also finished with double-digit rebounds, grabbing 10 for the game, as Hopkins won the battle of the boards, 48-40. Breslin led all scorers with 17 points, while Schittino punched up 14 for the Shoremen.