Bears Everywhere, Top Garnet
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. -- Garnet senior Raul Ordonez hit double figures for the fourth straight contest but Swarthmore ran into a wounded animal in Centennial-rival Ursinus who snapped a four-game losing skid with a 88-54 win on Tuesday night in Helfferich Hall.
Ordonez (Miami, Fla. / Belen Jesuit) posted a team-high 16 points and eight rebounds as Swarthmore dipped to 1-10 overall and 0-5 in the Centennial. Junior guard Matt Allen (Seattle, Wash. / Lakeside) finished with 11 points while junior Danny Walker (Westbury, N.Y. / Westbury) contributed 10 points and seven rebounds for the Garnet.
Ursinus guard John Noonan tallied a game-high 28 points, including the 1,000th of his career, and backcourtmate Remy Cousart added a triple-double as the Bears broke a recent four-game skid.
As they have done in each of the last couples years, Swarthmore burst out of the gates with the early lead. Sophomore forward Sam Lacy (Jericho, Vt. / Mount Mansfield) took a drop pass from Allen and sank a short jumper. Lacy returned the favor, spying Allen open for a three-pointer, and a 9-5 lead, at 16:09.
Ursinus revved up their transition off made baskets and behind the creative play of guard Remy Cousart and the hot-shooting of Noonan, reeled off 15-0 run. Cousart found sophomore forward TJ Jones for a fast-break lay-up at 11:35 and the Bears had control, up 20-9.
Cousart continued to spread the ball to the open Bear, which was mostly Noonan (14 points to lead all scorers at half). The versatile senior shot 5-of-8 from the floor as the hometeam held a 46-23 lead at the intermission. The Bears enjoyed a 32-18 rebound edge and hit 52.8% of their attempts from the floor while holding Swarthmore to just 25.6% on their end.
It was more Ursinus to start the second half as post Matt Howell scored six points on a 12-2 opening run. Noonan capped the scoring with a steal and a pair of free throws to give Ursinus a 58-25 lead.
The Bears reserves continued the pace set by the starters, generating a late 11-0 run to increase the lead to its largest spread, 85-46. Noonan scored his milestone basket in the midst of the final run, a lay-up the dropped in as he was fouled.
Swarthmore continues its grueling three-game road trip on Thursday evening, traveling to Gettysburg for a Centennial double header. The womens’ teams tip at 6:00 p.m., followed by the men at approximately 8:00 p.m.
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