Spring Break
M. basketball secures first conference victory
Issue date: 12/6/07
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The Hopkins men's basketball team improved their record on Saturday, Dec. 1, when they dribbled past Swarthmore 73-59 in an all-out court battle at the Goldfarb Gymnasium. The Jays are now sporting a record of 4-3 (1-1 in-conference), the best start that they've had since the 2004-05 season. The win on Saturday made it the seventh straight against Swarthmore (2-3, 0-2 in-conference), and team is ready to face the difficult end-of-the-year challenges that will be played on the road.
Despite both teams' attempts at taking an early lead and maintaining it throughout the game, the Garnet and the Jays volleyed back and forth for the lead in the first three minutes of play. They traded leads when finally sophomore guard Pat O'Connell put and end to it when he sunk a shot through the net for three points to give Hopkins a 7-6 lead. With this lead, the Jays kept the momentum going with a 16-3 point run, as they extended their lead by 11 to 20-9 with only 12 minutes left in the half. Swarthmore tried their best to turn the game in their favor by the half, when Raul Ordonez and Steve Wolf each hit both their lay-ups to close the gap to only six points with just ten minutes left.
The Jays then re-rallied to extend the lead by 10, but the Garnet filed it down to just five, making it a close 27-22 game. Back and forth, offensive and defensive sides of the ball were earning every inch, and that came to a head when Hopkins senior guard Doug Polster teamed up with freshman forward John Alberici to put three off the glass into the net.
However, Swarthmore would not let up. They responded with free throws and a three-point shot at 3:43, which brought them within five. But Hopkins junior guard Scott Weisnefeld and sophomore forward Adam Baumgartner teamed up to orchestrate a rebound-assist that resulted in a three-point shot at the buzzer to close the half at 35-26 in the Jays' favor.
It was all Hopkins when the second half started. The Jays quickly took advantage of their lead, and didn't look back. They quickly pounced on Swarthmore with a 9-2 scoring run to take a 16-point lead, and from that point on, they kept the double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Polster would end up with 20 points for the game, 13 of which were scored in the second half, as he helped the Jays shoot 48.1 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. On the other side of the basketball, the Jays stepped it up in defense, forcing 18 Garnet turnovers, and even though they trailed in rebounds, they only allowed 10 turnovers of their own. After completely dominating the game in the second half, the clock hit zero with a score of 73-59 in favor of the Jays.
Despite both teams' attempts at taking an early lead and maintaining it throughout the game, the Garnet and the Jays volleyed back and forth for the lead in the first three minutes of play. They traded leads when finally sophomore guard Pat O'Connell put and end to it when he sunk a shot through the net for three points to give Hopkins a 7-6 lead. With this lead, the Jays kept the momentum going with a 16-3 point run, as they extended their lead by 11 to 20-9 with only 12 minutes left in the half. Swarthmore tried their best to turn the game in their favor by the half, when Raul Ordonez and Steve Wolf each hit both their lay-ups to close the gap to only six points with just ten minutes left.
The Jays then re-rallied to extend the lead by 10, but the Garnet filed it down to just five, making it a close 27-22 game. Back and forth, offensive and defensive sides of the ball were earning every inch, and that came to a head when Hopkins senior guard Doug Polster teamed up with freshman forward John Alberici to put three off the glass into the net.
However, Swarthmore would not let up. They responded with free throws and a three-point shot at 3:43, which brought them within five. But Hopkins junior guard Scott Weisnefeld and sophomore forward Adam Baumgartner teamed up to orchestrate a rebound-assist that resulted in a three-point shot at the buzzer to close the half at 35-26 in the Jays' favor.
It was all Hopkins when the second half started. The Jays quickly took advantage of their lead, and didn't look back. They quickly pounced on Swarthmore with a 9-2 scoring run to take a 16-point lead, and from that point on, they kept the double-digit lead for the rest of the game. Polster would end up with 20 points for the game, 13 of which were scored in the second half, as he helped the Jays shoot 48.1 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. On the other side of the basketball, the Jays stepped it up in defense, forcing 18 Garnet turnovers, and even though they trailed in rebounds, they only allowed 10 turnovers of their own. After completely dominating the game in the second half, the clock hit zero with a score of 73-59 in favor of the Jays.
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