For the men's basketball team, the holiday season has brought many great joys to the Blue Jays: the surprising point guard tandem of sophomore Colin Kamm and freshman Pat O'Connell, the sharp shooting of junior guard Doug Polster and a nice national ranking.
The other good news for the Blue Jays: Everyone's favorite holiday fiend, the notoriously greedy Mr. Grinch, has yet to show up at the Goldfarb Gymnasium or during one of Hopkins' away games to deliver a loss. And after a hard-fought victory last Saturday at Muhlenberg, the No. 18-ranked men's team's record stands at a spotless 7-0.
The Mules, who many thought would battle Hopkins and Ursinus for Centennial Conference supremacy, led the game at halftime by four, but the Blue Jays used clutch shooting from Polster and a good effort from big men Dan Nawrocki and Matt Griffin to pull away in the second half for a 62-56 win.
The Jays continued a disturbing trend of struggling in the first half of play, trailing at the half for the fourth time in their last five games. They shot just 31 percent from the field in the opening session before coming back to shoot over 50 percent in the second half.
"The second half has been our biggest friend this year," Head Coach Bill Nelson said. "We've trailed or been really close after the first half in our last few games.
"Nowadays, we are just happy to see the second half."
As soon as the whistle to start the second half blew, the Blue Jays took over, immediately erasing their four point deficit with a 10-2 run. Hopkins eventually opened up a 10-point lead with big buckets from Polster and junior forward Kevin Roach. Much to Mule's fans' (and the greedy Grinch's) dismay, Muhlenberg never recovered.
"We have been winning games the best way we can," senior forward Zack Armen said. "We've been using all parts of our team -- our big guys inside, our shooters outside and our bench to win these games."
Griffin finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Jays. Polster finished with 13 points on 4-6 shooting from three-point range, and Kamm played superbly at the point guard spot carrying the load, while O'Connell sat out due to illness.
Kamm finished with 10 points in 37 minutes played. Senior Dan Nawrocki added 10 rebounds.
Hopkins men's basketball continues their season this week at McDaniel and on Saturday at home against Dickinson. While Coach Nelson has the talent needed to succeed in conference play, the Blue Jays will need to stop costly turnovers during the first half of play if they want to continue on their impressive winning streak.
Luckily, opponents have thus far been unable to convert turnovers into points, but should the Blue Jays continue to turn it over as much as they have (20 against Muhlenberg) it will come back to bite them against a more talented team.
Without a change in the near future, thieves like the Grinch will soon be stealing more than just presents.
