M. Bball beats McDaniel, falls to Swarthmore

The Hopkins men’s basketball team entered the week looking to improve after a win against Gettysburg last Wednesday. The Jays played host to Centennial Conference opponent Swarthmore in the honorary Wall-O’Mahony game on Saturday afternoon.

The Swarthmore Garnet traveled to Goldfarb Gym just 2-11 in the Centennial Conference and managed to outlast a late Hopkins comeback to hold off the Jays, 53-50. Hopkins dropped their overall record to 5-16, posting a 3-11 record in the Centennial.

But the boys bounced back Wednesday night at McDaniel. Hopkins won 47-45 over the 11-11 Green Terror.

The Wall-O’Mahony game is played each year in honor of Hopkins Basketball alumni Glen Wall and Matt O’Mahony, both of whom graduated in 1984. The two graduates lost their lives in the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center attack.

Swarthmore maintained an early lead until freshman Daniel Corbett hit a three-pointer to give Hopkins a 12-10 lead.

The closely contested game saw nine ties and 14 lead changes, while no team led by more than five points the entire afternoon. The back and forth scoring was prevalent from the get go, setting the stage for an intense and exciting finish.

With just less than two minutes to play in the first half, the Garnet led by three points. A quick five-point swing with scores from Hopkins sophomores Mike Rhoads and Sean Wildes sent the team into the locker room with the Jays leading 24-22 at halftime.

Rhoads led all Hopkins scorers with 12 points on just six shot attempts from the field, adding one assist and a steal. Wildes tallied seven points of his own to compliment his four rebounds and one steal.

Swarthmore forward Will Gates led all scorers, putting up 21 points and nine rebounds.

The second half was ignited with three lead changes in the first five minutes.

Swarthmore held a small advantage until eight minutes were left in the game, when sophomore Pat Wildes scored to give Hopkins a 38-36 lead. With the intensity building up and the time winding down, the Garnet took the lead with under four minutes to play. The Blue Jays could not find a way to retake the lead.

With just 51 seconds left, Sean Wildes was found under the basket to cut the deficit to one point, 51-50. Hopkins forced a missed jumpshot and took possession to take one final shot.

The Garnet forced a turnover and were fouled with only three tenths of a second left in the game. Both free throws were made and Swarthmore closed out the game 53-50, winning in Baltimore for the first time since 1997.

Cobett received MVP honors for Hopkins, scoring eight points while dealing four assists, grabbing six rebounds, and forcing three steals.

Will Gates earned MVP for Swarthmore via his 21-point effort.

Hopkins freshman center Aleksandar Nikolic blocked five shots to expand his season total to 27, tying Matt Eisley for second most by a freshman in school history.

While the disappointing loss has not disheartened the Jays, sophomore Sean Wildes feels that a handful of winnable games have slipped through their fingers this season.

“We’ve been in most games we lost and it’s tough because we could have won a lot of them,” the sophomore said. “We are going to approach the last couple games like we would any game this year. Our goal is to go out, play tough on both sides of the ball, and come away with a W.”

The overall team sentiment is that there is a lot to learn and build off of from this season.

“We’re very young and have an unbelievable amount of talent. We have faith we can go out and compete every night,” Wildes continued.

He also believes that there will be a great payoff from the unsatisfactory record as soon as next year.

“We hope to reap the benefits of our hard work for the remainder of the season and seasons to come,” he said.