Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The Johns Hopkins men's basketball team got a career-high 24 points from senior guard Austin Vasiliadis in a 101-94 win at Ursinus in the Blue Jays' final game before the holiday break. The Blue Jays pick up their first conference win of the season as they improve to 2-4 overall and 1-2 in the Centennial. Hopkins' 101 points is the most its scored since a 100-91 triple overtime win over Muhlenberg on January 16, 2008. The 195 combined points are also tied for the seventh most in program history.

The teams went back-and-forth early and the score was knotted at 8-8 at the 16:30-mark. Five straight points from Remi Janicot sparked a 6-2 spurt to give the Bears a 16-10 lead less than 90 seconds later. The Blue Jays answered with a triple from sophomore Kyle Doran and a baseline jumper from senior Matt Chiusano that gave the visitors a one-point lead. Vasiliadis and senior Niko Kotoulas followed to push the lead to five at the 12:04-mark. Sophomore Jesse Flannery then capped the run with a bucket from downtown and JHU was up 22-14.

Ursinus trimmed the deficit back to one with seven straight points, topped by a triple from Matt Knowles at 10:24. The teams traded buckets over the ensuing 90 seconds and Hopkins led 27-26. Chiusano then hit a pair of free throws to ignite an 11-1 Blue Jay run that saw the lead swell to 11 with 6:34 to play. Senior Matt Billups accounted for six of the team's points during the run. The Bears got back within eight, but the Blue Jays answered with a 21-5 run to end the half. Senior Gene Williams hit one of two free throws and then Vasiliadis drained a pair to kick-start the run and Hopkins took a 59-35 lead into the half.

Ursinus came out strong to start the second half and trimmed the deficit to 18 with a 10-4 run. But a three-pointer from Vasiliadis and a Kotoulas layup pushed the lead back to 23 with 15:02 to play. Brian Rafferty answered with a three to spark a 15-2 burst that saw the deficit sliced to just 10 with 11:19 on the clock. Eric Williams punctuated the run with a three-pointer, one of his four on the day. The teams then traded threes followed by a Joe LoStracco layup and Hopkins' lead was eight at 73-65. A Chiusano jumper and a pair of Vasiliadis free throws and the lead pushed the lead to 12.

The lead seesawed from 12 down to 10 and back up to 12 over the subsequent two and a half minutes. Williams scored the next four points for the Bears and the lead was back to eight. But once again the Blue Jays answered, this time it was a three from Williams that made it an 11-point game with 2:31 to play. Ursinus kept battling but each time Hopkins had an answer, sealing the win at the free throw line by going 13-of-14 in the final 80 seconds.

Vasiliadis led four Blue Jays in double figures with a career-high 24 points, as he eclipsed the 20-point mark for the first time in his career. He went 6-of-11 from the field and 9-of-9 from the line while handing out seven assists and grabbing two steals. Vasiliadis how has 257 career assists, ranking him 24th in Centennial Conference history. Williams finished with a season-high 19 points and Billups had a career-high 16 points. Chiusano chipped in 10 points while Doran was just shy of a double double with nine points and eight rebounds. All five starters for the Bears finished in double figures, led by Janicot's 22 points. Malik Draper punched up 17 points and handed out eight assists.

Hopkins is now off for the holiday break and will return to action on December 29 at the Albright Crowne Plaza Holiday Tournament. Hopkins will face Susquehanna at 2:00 pm at the George C. Bollman Center.