Just as any team with as much experience, talent and depth as the Hopkins men's basketball team is supposed to do, the No. 22 Blue Jays continued to roll through the second half of their season. By beating Gettysburg and Washington in the past week by double-digit margins, the Jays improved their record to 17-2 overall and 11-1 in Centennial Conference play.
The Blue Jays ripped the Bullets last Wednesday at Goldfarb Gymnasium, 83-67. On Saturday senior forwards Matt Griffin and Dan Nawrocki pushed the team to a strong effort at Washington College to defeat the Shoremen, 72-54.
"Our guys have been much more focused these past few games [and] they seem to be playing out of emotion," Head Coach Bill Nelson said. "We have had great interior passing, really unselfish play, and our post players have been playing really well together."
Griffin led the way offensively with 19 points, shooting 7-10 from the field against Washington. Nawrocki added 13 points and 8 rebounds. The Blue Jays had four other players register at least six points, with senior guard T.J. Valerio and sophomore guard Phil Beggans scoring nine each.
Against Washington, turnovers were once again an issue for the Jays as they coughed up the ball 18 times. However, their defense kept them in the game. Washington was only able to shoot 35 percent from the field in the first half and 26 percent in the second half.
"Our defense is ranked nationally and we shoot over 50 percent from the field," Nelson said. "This turnover issue will be the key to our success [because] turnovers can be a neutralizer."
The Blue Jays led most of the way in a back-and-forth first half before taking a nine-point lead into the locker room at halftime. The Shoremen were able to diminish the Jays' lead to 23-21 with six minutes remaining, however a 16-9 run to finish the half spurred Hopkins on to victory. Washington was able to cut the lead to six twice in the second half, however, after narrowing the margin to 48-42 with just under 14 minutes remaining, Hopkins pulled away for good.
Last Wednesday the Blue Jays shook off a bad first half (and a halftime deficit) while utilizing a huge second-half performance to pull away from the Bullets. The Jays got a monster effort from Griffin, who scored 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Valerio also contributed in a very quiet fashion dropping 22 points, shooting 9-12 from the field and 4-7 from behind the three-point arc. Additionally, Nawrocki grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 14 points for Hopkins.
The Bullets toyed with the Jays early, using an offensive spread similar to Princeton's, relying on back-door cuts and solid ball screens to keep Hopkins defenders off guard. This offensive set resulted in more lay-ups and easy baskets than Coach Bill Nelson likes to see his team give up. It also resulted in the Blue Jays trailing 36-33 at halftime. It was, in fact, only the play of Griffin that kept the Blue Jays close in the first half, as the forward dominated the smaller Bullet defenders.
In the second half, however, the Jays jumped all over Gettysburg, locking down their offensive threats while displaying a much more efficient offense. With the score tied at 48 and 13 minutes remaining in the game, the Blue Jays rattled off a 12-2 run to extend the lead to 10. This margin put away the Bullets for good. Down the stretch, solid free throw shooting and two nail-in-the-coffin three-pointers by Valerio ended the Bullets' hope of an upset in Baltimore.
The past two games were of great importance because they added to the Blue Jays growing confidence as well as their high win total. Against Gettysburg, Griffin recorded the 1000th point of his career, joining teammate Dan Nawrocki and 12 other members of this illustrious club at Hopkins. On Saturday, Coach Bill Nelson picked up his 450th win of his career, improving his overall record to 450-249. Nawrocki also broke the all-time Hopkins rebound record, grabbing his 830th, which leaves him now only 30 shy of the all-time Centennial Conference record.
"Rebounds are all about desire [as] the person who wants the ball the most is going to come up with the ball," Nawrocki said. "I personally feel that rebounds are more important than points, because if you dominate the boards your team will come out on top.
"It is a great feeling knowing I'll be graduating with that record."
"These milestones speak volumes of [Griffin's and Nawrocki's] play [and] it shows how unselfish they can be," Nelson said. "Most programs can't have two big guys coexist like these two do, and it has really started to show, especially this season."
As the Blue Jays continue Centennial Conference play, it may become tempting to look ahead to the postseason and the conference tournament. However, it is this overconfidence and loss of focus that can lead to an upset. If things continue the way they are, the Blue Jays will manage to keep cruising to double-digit victories like they have in their past three contests.
"The Haverford loss was a slap in the face to us," Nawrocki said. "With the talent that we have, there is no reason for us to lose the rest of the year. We have way too many weapons and it's almost impossible to set up a game plan against us defensively."
The men play next on Saturday at Haverford before returning home next Wednesday to play McDaniel at 7 pm.
