Shattuck Carries Bears Past Garnet
SWARTHMORE, PA. -- Ursinus senior guard Nick Shattuck scored 26 of his 32 points in the second half as the visiting Bears overcame a 14-point deficit and defeated the Garnet 68-59.
Swarthmore senior center Ian McCormick (Seattle, Wa. / University Prep) swatted three shots, moving him past Rob Ruffin ’92 and into the record books as the top shot-blocker in school history (149).
The Garnet led 37-23 with 17:01 to play and 43-34 with 12:55 left before Shattuck scored the Bears’ next 24 points over the next eleven minutes as the visitors took command.
The first half was all Swarthmore as freshmen Ryan Carmichael (Portland, Me. / Portland) and Sam Lacy (Jericho, Vt. / Mount Mansfield Union) held Shattuck to just six points as the hosts ran up a 33-21 lead. Senior guard Matt Kurman (Rockville, Md. / Walter Johnson) sank three triples and senior forward Steve Wolf (Philadelphia, Pa. / Father Judge) scored 13 points off the bench.
Offensive rebounding keyed the Garnet’s early success—the hosts grabbed 11 in the first half. Wolf and McCormick used their height advantage and superior positioning to great effect, while Lacy left it all on the floor all afternoon long in his first career start.
Kurman’s first three-pointer gave the Garnet a quick 5-0 lead in the first minute, a lead that would hold up all half. Ursinus pulled within one at 18-17 with 11:15 left before Swarthmore turned things up on defense and ended the half on a 15-4 run.
Ursinus senior forward Michael Shema (Geneva, Switzerland / Westtown) was active early in the second half with two buckets and a block in the first four minutes as the Bears pulled within five at 39-34. Swarthmore scored the next four points before Shattuck finally got untracked. The senior hit a pair of free throws and, after a Lacy layup, swished a three from the top of the circle on a pretty pick-and-pop.
Wolf responded by stealing the ball from Shattuck, drawing a foul, and making a pair from the stripe, but the Bear standout scored the next five points.
Swarthmore regrouped defensively and held the Bears without a point for the next 4:50 but scored just one point over the same period. The teams then exchanged baskets, and with 3:40 to go it was still a two-possession game at 53-49. But after sinking two from the line, Shattuck got free for a dunk on the ensuing possession and tied the score. A three-pointer and two more free throws later, the Bears had a 58-53 lead. Finally, with 1:17 to play, Ursinus junior John Noonan (Havertown, Pa. / Friends Select) hit a three-pointer for the visitors’ first non-Shattuck points in almost 14 minutes—and the lead was eight.