Two Teams To Square Off Wednesday In Baltimore

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Visiting Johns Hopkins got a team-high 18 points and a game-best 13 rebounds from George Bugarinovic as the Blue Jays held off host Washington College, 71-67, on Saturday afternoon at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference men's basketball action.  The Blue Jays improve to 15-10 overall and 11-7 in the conference, while the Shoremen drop to 13-12 and 9-9 respectively.  It was the regular season finale for both squads.

With the win, the Blue Jays earned the fourth seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament and will host the Shoremen at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday night at Goldfarb Gym in Baltimore.  Had the Shoremen won, the game would have been at the Cain Athletic Center on Wednesday evening.

Following a steal and fast-break layup by sophomore forward Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) to cut the Johns Hopkins lead to 60-59 with 3:02 left in the second half, the Blue Jays called a timeout with 2:32 to go.  Out of the timeout, Bugarinovic received a pass from Mike Rhoads and laid it in as the shot clock was winding down to give Hopkins a 62-59 lead.  On the next possession, senior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) missed a jumper, but fellow classmate, guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) grabbed the rebound.  Schittino swung the ball to senior center Max Finch (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) and he passed it to Breslin who canned a three-pointer to tie the game at 62-62 with 2:01 remaining in the game.  On the next possession, Daniel Corbett found Bugarinovic who sank a jumper to put the Blue Jays back up at 64-62 with 91 seconds to go.  It was a lead that they would never give up. 

On the next possession, Breslin was fouled and made one-of-two from the line to cut the lead to 64-63 with 57 seconds left.  On Hopkins next possession, Bugarinovic drove from the three-point line and layed it in to put the guests up 66-63 with 34.8 ticks left.  Six seconds later Breslin was fouled and he made both from the charity stripe to cut it 66-65.  Corbett was fouled immediately and made one from the line to make it 67-65 Hopkins with 28 seconds left.  On WC's next possession, senior forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) drove the hoop, but his layup was off the mark and Corbett grabbed the rebound.  Corbett made both from the line this time with 13 seconds left and Hopkins was up 69-65.  Breslin was fouled with eight ticks left and sank both to cut the lead to 69-67.  On the inbounds pass, Hopkins' Jimmy Hammer was fouled and he made both with six seconds to go to make it 71-67 and provide the final margin.

In the first half, the Shoremen jumped out to a 15-6 lead with 14:59 left on a jumper by senior forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph).  The Blue Jays though would go on a 22-10 run over the next 13:13 to take a 28-25 lead with 1:46 left in the first on two Bugarinovic free throws.  WC however scored the final six points of the half to take a 31-28 lead with the final three coming on a Finch three-pointer to beat the buzzer.  The triple was Finch's first career three-pointer.

In the second half, after the first two points were scored by Olsen to give WC a 33-28 lead 26 seconds into the half, the Blue Jays scored went on a 22-10 run to take a 50-43 lead with 9:44 to go in the game on a Tim McCarty bucket.  WC would score the next six points on back-to-back threes by Breslin and junior forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Haddonfield Memorial) respectively to cut the visitors' lead to 50-49 with 8:45 left.  However, Hopkins scored 10 of the next 16 points to take a 60-55 lead with 5:31 left on a lay-in by Connor McIntyre.  The Shoremen would score the next four points to trim it to one with 3:02 left on a steal and transition score by Cunningham.

In addition to Bugarinovic, three other Blue Jays scored in double figures.  McCarty scored 12 points, Corbett added 11 points and Hammer chipped in with 10 points.  Corbett and Adam Spengler both handed out four assists to tie for tops in the game.  McIntyre blocked three shots to lead all players, while McCarty had nine rebounds to just miss out on a double-double.  The Blue Jays held a commanding 50-24 edge on the boards, 20 of Hopkins' 50 rebounds came on the offensive glass. 

Breslin scored 21 points to lead all players, while Finch scored a career-high 10 points and pilfered a personal best three steals to lead all participants.  Senior guard Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph) handed out four assists to lead the hosts and tie for game-high.  The Shoremen had nine turnovers, while forcing 18 miscues by the Blue Jays.

Johns Hopkins shot 41% from the floor, 23% from three-point land and 85% (22-for-26) from the foul line, while Washington shot 41% from the field, 47% (7-for-15) from behind the arc and 71% (12-for-17) from the stripe. 

The Blue Jays had a 30-16 edge in points in the paint and 21-12 advantage in second chance points, while the Shoremen had a 25-7 bulge in points off turnovers, 10-4 advantage in transition points and 23-22 edge in bench points.  There were 10 lead changes and eight ties in the game.

This will be third time that the Shoremen and Blue Jays have met in the conference tournament with the Blue Jays winning both times.  Hopkins downed WC in the 1998 semifinal round in Baltimore, 60-59, and in the 1999 championship game in Chestertown, 78-52.