The train that is the Hopkins men's basketball team keeps chugging along, finally scheduled to arrive at its most important destination, the Centennial Conference Tournament, this weekend. The Blue Jays finished up their second consecutive 1-1 week with a rousing Senior Day victory over Franklin & Marshall in the Goldfarb Gymnasium.
On Saturday, the Blue Jays defeated Franklin & Marshall, 84-68, in the last regular season game for guard T.J. Valerio, forward Dan Nawrocki, forward/center Matt Griffin, forward Zack Armen and forward Chris Morley. The five seniors had a combined 69-33 record over the last four years, and a very impressive 38-8 record at home. Perhaps most impressive, however, is the 3.5 GPA the scholar-athletes average between the five of them.
Saturday was no time for studying, however, as the Blue Jays came out firing, starting all five seniors and jumping out to an early 30-13 lead. Oddly enough, the five looked as though they had been starting together all season. Despite the fact that they started four players over 6'6, they suffered only a few turnovers early in the game.
Coach Bill Nelson credited his regular starters Valerio, Griffin, and Nawrocki with setting the tone for the seniors.
"It told me a lot about them when T.J., Dan and Matt came to me and asked if Chris and Zack could start," Nelson said. "You have five guys who have worked hard together for four years and when you see something like that, it's really special."
The five seniors combined to score 64 of the team's 84 points, led by Griffin's 30. The 30 points left the senior forward just one point short of his career high. Nawrocki scored 14 for the Blue Jays, and Valerio added 11.
"I've seen them for almost three years now," junior Doug Polster said. "They work so hard, and especially this season, we've just been trying to wrap up this conference."
"The win on senior night was special -- it was just like putting the twisty-tie on top of it all."
The Blue Jays weren't so "special" on Wednesday, when Nelson described his players as lacking the energy needed to compete in the game. The Blue Jays trailed by as many as 18 with just over 10 minutes left in the game before falling, 65-58. The only performance of note was Valerio's, as he scored 22 for Hopkins on an 8-14 shooting night.
Nevertheless, the Blue Jays are the number one seed in the tournament, and will host the tournament this weekend.
"We just keep moving along," Valerio said. "We've had a good record all season, and we just look at it as if our team members are like the cars of a train [as we] just keep feeding off each other, chugging along towards the end of the season."
Coach Nelson also feels confident about his team's efforts, despite the lackluster loss to Gettysburg.
"The good thing is that our team has showed a lot of energy in two big games recently," Nelson said. "It is a good sign that we have been getting up for these games."
This year's team has certainly set a precedent for others that will follow. Not only has it matched the school's highest regular season win total (21), but it also won the most conference games in Hopkins history.
