The Hopkins Men’s Basketball team bounced back with a win over conference rival Gettysburg after suffering two losses this past week to Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg.
Since the RMC Coaches Classic on December 30, 2010, the Jays have struggled, posting a 3-9 record over the month-long span.
This past Thursday, the Diplomats entered Goldfarb gym to take on the Jays. With 11 minutes remaining in the first half, F&M ignited a 15-2 run and jumped out to a 26-14 lead. Hopkins responded with a 9-4 run of its own, but ultimately only trimmed the lead to seven points. To round out the first half, Franklin & Marshall led 38-27.
Senior John Alberici recorded 15 points in the contest while playing 21 minutes to lead all Hopkins scorers. He was one of two Jays who scored double figures, along with freshman Aleksander Nikolic. Alberici was perfect from the free throw line, going five-for-five from the stripe and scored five of his ten attempts from the field. Nikolic compiled five rebounds and three blocks in addition to his 11 points.
To start the second half, Franklin & Marshall extended its lead to 23 points within the first seven minutes. The Diplomats continued their dominance, putting together a 15-4 run to expand their lead to 30 points, 72-42, with seven minutes remaining in the half. A final score of 86-55 dropped the Blue Jays to a 4-14 record on the season, 2-9 in conference play.
Freshman center Nikolic has remained a bright spot for the Jays this season. His post presence and season total of 18 blocks ranks fourth all time amongst Hopkins freshman.
Two days later, Hopkins traveled to Muhlenberg for a conference game against the Mules. In an exciting game, the Mules outlasted the Jays second half push to win by a final score of 54-48. Hopkins fell to 2-10 in the Centennial Conference.
Throughout the first half, Muhlenberg answered nearly every Jay score, holding on to a one-point lead entering half time, 26-25. Shortly into the second period, Hopkins scored five unanswered points to tie the score 34-34. Immediately the Mules sparked a 16-2 run, intending to put the game out of reach.
The Jays clawed back, a sharp momentum swing capped with a 20-foot jumper from sophomore Sean Wildes cut the deficit to four points with just one minute remaining in the game.
The Jays had three attempts to slice further into the lead, but could not finish off the emphatic comeback, falling just short of a road win against the 10-8 Mules.
Jays forward Sean Wildes posted a career high eight points in the loss to Muhlenberg.
Wildes got the start at home against Gettysburg but only notched two points, three rebounds and three blocks. Pat Wildes led the bench with seven points on two three’s.
At the end of the first half Hopkins led 38-22 and held the wide lead through the end of the game. The final score: 65-46.
Hopkins had one of its best shooting games of the season draining 9-17 from beyond the arc and shooting over 52% from the floor.
McCarty was an unusual 3-4 from beyond the three point line and scored 17 points with a team high four rebounds. Corbett also added thirteen points and had six steals.
The win ended a five game losing streak and improved the Jays to 5-15 overall and 3-10 in Centennial Conference action.
Wildes has been upset with the recent five game skid. “For the most part we have been right there in the end of our last couple games, we just don’t pull away when we need to, or run out of time when we are making a comeback.”
He added that the team is talented enough to hang with any opponent, and expressed that the remaining games left on the schedule are very important.
“Its unfortunate because we know full well going into every game that we have the ability and talent to beat any team we play. The next couple games are all winnable, so hopefully we can come out with six W’s and build some momentum for next season.”
Overall the team is looking forward to finishing the season on a positive note. Junior guard Tim McCarty also feels that all the remaining games are feasible opponents, and his goal is to finish strong.
When asked about the future, McCarty responded, “We’ll take it one game at a time.”
Hopkins Men’s Basketball returns to action on Saturday Feb. 5 in the Goldfarb gym at 1:00 p.m. to take on Swarthmore.
The Jays wrap up the season over the next two weeks, concluding their season schedule with five conference opponents.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.