SALISBURY, MD – The 10
th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's basketball team beat host Salisbury, 67-53, on Saturday afternoon to pick up its first win of the season. The Blue Jays even their record at 1-1 while the Sea Gulls falls to 0-2.
This one was back-and-forth early as the lead changed hands nine times with three ties. Neither team led by more than four in that opening 16 minutes.
With the game tied at 23 on a Cameron Heard jumper, sophomore
John Windley answered on the other end to spark an 8-2 run. Graduate student
Tom Quarry punctuated the run with back-to-back dunks to stake Hopkins to a 31-25 lead with 34 seconds remaining in the first half. Greg Bloodsworth hit one of two free throws in the final six seconds to make it a 31-26 game at the break.
Brandon Craig opened the half with a bucket in the paint, but Windley and senior
Carson James answered with back-to-back threes and just like that the Blue Jays led 37-28. Heard responded with a jumper on the other end to trim the lead to seven. James and junior
Will Sykes came right back with a pair of buckets to push the lead to 11 with 15:39 to go.
The Sea Gulls used a quick 6-2 spurt to pull back within six on Heard's three-pointer at 12:26. A three from graduate student
Ethan Bartlett, followed by a James jumper and Hopkins led 48-37 just 60 seconds later. Craig answered with a layup and then a free throw to cut it to eight. But once again, JHU answered with eight straight points as the lead quickly grew to 16 with 7:12 on the clock.
The lead seesawed up and down over the ensuing three minutes and Hopkins led 60-48. After a Jordan Oates bucket in the paint, senior
Sidney Thybulle threw down a dunk to ignite a 7-0 spurt as the Blue Jays took a 67-48 lead at the 2:34-mark. Brendan Davis answered with a triple and Bloodsworth hit a jumper in the final 90 seconds as Hopkins took the 67-53 win.
Windley led the Blue Jays with a career-high 16 points, going 7-of-10 from the field, and grabbing three boards. James added 14 points, three assists and three steals. Quarry scored 11 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Craig led all scorers with 17 points to go with seven rebounds and three blocks. Bloodsworth added 10 points and three assists.
Hopkins returns to the court on Wednesday, November 16 as the Blue Jays host the York Spartans. Tip-off at Goldfarb Gym is slated for 7:00 pm.
