Hopkins Pulls Away From Men's Basketball, 70-61
BALTIMORE - Junior Will Gates scored a game-high 21 points and junior Jordan Martinez (pictured) netted a career-high 18 points to lead the Swarthmore College men's basketball team (1-13, 1-6), but it wasn't enough to topple homestanding Johns Hopkins (9-4, 5-1), as the Garnet fell to the Blue Jays by the score of 70-61 on Thursday afternoon.
George Bugarinovic and Adam Spangler each finished with 19 points, combining to shoot 12-of-22 from the floor. The difference in the game was the Blue Jays domination in post; Hopkins outscored Swarthmore 32-16 in the paint, out-rebounded the Garnet 40-27 and earned 16 second-chance points.
Sophomore Jay Kober tallied 10 points for the Garnet, which lost despite hitting 11-of-12 free throws and shooting 44 percent in the second half.
The first half saw the two teams battle back and forth in a tight contest. Gates' second of three first-half three-pointers gave the Garnet an 11-10 lead with 11:07 to play in the first. The Blue Jays took over the lead in the final 10 minutes of the first half, pulling ahead 21-15 on a Bugarinovic lay-up with 5:21 to play.
Still, the Garnet wouldn't fold. Gates scored five points over the final five minutes and a Martinez jumper with just two seconds to play cut the Hopkins lead to 27-24 at the half.
The start of the second half proved to be the turning point in the game, as a pair of significant Blue Jay runs spoiled any thoughts of a Garnet upset. The Blue Jays opened the half on a 9-0 run - led by nine points from the combo of Spengler and Bugarinovic - to take a 36-24 advantage. Martinez kept the Garnet close, scoring the game's next five points to make it a 38-29 game, but Hopkins responded with an 11-4 spurt to make it a 49-33 game with exactly 11 minutes to play.
Swarthmore never surrendered down the stretch, battling back to cut a 17-point deficit to just eight in the final minutes of play. A Martinez lay-up in the paint made it a 63-55 game with 1:08 to play. Still, it wasn't enough, as Hopkins closed out the game at the foul line, hitting 7-of-8 free throws in the final 60 seconds to seal the win.
Martinez also finished with a game-high four assists. Gates and sophomore Davis Ancona finished with a team-high five rebounds.
The Blue Jays bench outscored the Garnet 20-6, led by Mike Rhoads' eight points.
Swarthmore continues its Centennial road swing with a trip to Dickinson on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4:00 p.m.
