Feb. 15, 2014
Box Score
BALTIMORE, MD - Visiting Dickinson used a 16-5 run late in the second half to overcome an upset-minded Johns Hopkins, 68-63, in Centennial Conference action Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays fall to 13-10 overall and 10-6 in the CC, while the Red Devils improve to 19-4 overall and with a 14-2 mark in the league clinch the top seed in the tournament. Senior Connor McIntyre tied the school single-game record with a career-high seven blocks on senior day.
Sophomore Niko Kotoulas drained a three-pointer to cap a quick 9-2 run that gave Hopkins a 50-45 lead with 7:29 to play in the game. Back-to-back buckets by Tom McInerney and Brandon Angradi trimmed the deficit to one and ignited that 16-5 Dickinson run as the Red Devils turned a five-point deficit into a six-point lead in less than five minutes. Sophomore Gene Williams pushed the lead back to three with a baseline jumper at 6:06, but a pair of free throws from Tucker Landy and one from Chris Cox tied the game at 52-all with 5:31 on the clock.
Adam Honig then hit a three from the top of the key to give Dickinson the lead, but senior Daniel Corbett answered with a three of his own from 24 feet out to tie the game. Honig answered with back-to-back triples to stake the Red Devils to a 61-55 lead with 2:54 to play. Junior Jimmy Hammer hit a pull-up jumper at 1:14 to pull the Blue Jays within four but after a foul on the other end, Honig hit both of his shots from the line and the deficit was back to six. Hammer answered on the other end with a bucket from downtown and just like that it was a three-point game with 44 ticks on the clock.
Hopkins was forced to foul again and Angradi made both of his shots. On the ensuing possession, Hammer was fouled on a three-point shot and made all three of his shots to make it just a two-point game. Angradi then made just one of two free throws with junior George Bugarinovic grabbing the rebound off the second miss. Following a Blue Jay timeout, Hammer tried a shot from the top of the arc but Honig blocked it and Gerry Wixted controlled the rebound. Honig then sealed the win at the line with two shots.
The first half was just as exciting as the end of the game with three ties and four lead changes in the game's first 12 and a half minutes. With the game tied at eight apiece, Corbett hit a layup to spark a quick 8-3 spurt by the Blue Jays as they took a 16-11 lead at the 12:11-mark. But a three-pointer by Brian Gerney and a three-point play from McInerney gave Dickinson a one-point lead less than two minutes later. McInerney pushed the lead to three with a jumper at 10:11 but Bugarinovic and sophomore Matt Billups answered with consecutive baskets to swing the lead back in the Blue Jays' favor.
Steve Collins came right back with a bucket from downtown to kick start a 9-3 Devils' run that saw the visitors take a 28-22 lead on a Honig three-pointer with 5:08 to go. Luke Chambers got a layup and Kotoulas converted two shots from the charity stripe to cut the deficit to two with under three minutes left. Ted Hinnenkamp would put back a Cox miss to send Dickinson into the locker room with a 30-26 lead.
The teams traded buckets coming out of the half and Dickinson led by five with 16:13 on the clock. Williams hit a pair of free throws to start an 8-1 Blue Jay run as they took a 41-39 lead less than five minutes later. Sophomore Austin Vasiliadis capped the run with a pull-up jumper, but Wixted answered with a jumper of his own, followed by a Hinnenkamp layup and Dickinson led 43-41. Hopkins came right back with that 9-2 run to go up 50-45 on Kotoulas' three.
Hammer led the Blue Jays with a game-high 24 points while also grabbing five rebounds. Williams added nine points, while Bugarinovic had eight points and eight rebounds. McIntyre finished with the record-tying seven blocks, the most by a Blue Jay since Eric Toback had seven versus Illinois Wesleyan on December 5, 2003. McIntyre now has 55 blocks on the season, 10 shy of the school single-season record. Honig led the Red Devils with 21 points, going 4-of-6 from downtown, while also grabbing 14 rebounds. Angradi was the only other Dickinson player in double figures as he finished with 11 points.
Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, February 19 as McDaniel visits Goldfarb Gym. Tip-off for the Centennial Conference match-up is set for 8:00 pm.
