Garnet Tops Terror to Snap 10-Game Skid
Ian McCormick '08 and Matt Gustafson '05 provided the one-two punch to lead the Garnet (2-10, 1-4 CC) to a 65-62 Centennial Conference victory over McDaniel (3-9, 1-4) at Tarble Pavilion. The victory snaps Swarthmore's 10-game losing skid.
McCormick recorded his first career double-double with 25 points and a career-high 10 rebounds while Gustafson inched closer to becoming the school's all-time leading scorer with 16 points and 12 rebounds. The senior captain needs 32 more points to take the top spot on the Swarthmore scoring leaderboard.
The two squads battled from the start as there were six ties and five lead changes in the first half. The Terror held its largest lead of six at the break as Chris Rutland hit a shot to beat the buzzer giving them a 32-26 advantage at the break.
The Garnet used the long ball to get back into the game as three pointers from Dillon McGrew '07 (2), McCormick, and Matt Kurman '08 sparked an 18-3 run to start the second half, giving the Tide a 44-35 lead with 14:00 remaining.
McDaniel pounded the offensive glass to whittle away at the Garnet lead closing to within 59-58 on a Jemar Daniel put-back at 3:59. Daniel paced McDaniel with seven of the Terror's 28 offensive rebounds.
Gustafson converted two free throws with 1:49 left to give the Garnet a 61-58 lead. Josh McKay countered with a bucket with 1:30 remaining to close the gap to one again. A McCormick layup at 0:56 gave the Tide a 63-60 lead before McKay hit two free throws with 28.9 seconds remaining.
Kurman connected on two free throws with 19 seconds left to give the Garnet the final margin of victory, 65-62.
McCormick could have iced the game with 5 seconds left but missed two free throws. After a Green Terror timeout, Sean McNeely took the inbounds pass, dribbled to the top of the key and launched a three-pointer at the buzzer that rattled off the rim giving the Garnet its first victory since a season opening victory over Connecticut College on November 19.
Kyle O'Connor led the Terror with 13 points, Daniel finished with 12 points and eight rebounds and McKay added 11 points and nine boards. McGrew came of the Garnet bench to contribute 11 points, connectiong on three 3-pointers.
Swarthmore travels to Franklin & Marshall on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. Centennial matchup.