Noam, Garnet Bring Down House
HAVERFORD, Pa. -- The Swarthmore defense was the story of the first half, and the Swarthmore grabbed the headlines in the second half, as the Garnet defeated Haverford 60-43 Wednesday night on Rivalry Night in the Centennial Conference in front of 900 fans in the brand new Calvin J. Gooding '84 Arena of the Douglas B. Gardner '83 Integrated Athletic Center.
Swarthmore (4-12 overall, 3-6 CC) has won four out of its last six games and ended a three-game slide to the Fords (6-8 overall, 5-4 CC). In a series that dates back to 1920, the Garnet hold an 88-61 edge over Haverford.
The home standing Fords grabbed the early 10-3 lead with a jumper from forward David Nowacki at 15:40.
The Garnet defense began to take over the game, blanking the Fords for the last 8:35 of the first half; Haverford's last point of the half came on a lay-up by Aaron Heath. Swarthmore fought back on the offensive end to tie the game twice, finally grabbing the lead, 20-18, on a lay-up by sophomore guard Noam Fliegelman with 4:27 left in the half.
Swarthmore went into halftime with the 22-18 advantage.
Haverford's Johnny Elefterakis broke the ice for the Fords early in the second half, sinking a three-pointer to cut the Swarthmore lead to 22-21 at the 17:23 mark. The Garnet answered that bucket with a 18-6 run, pushing the lead out to 40-27 in favor of Swarthmore, a lead it would not relinquish.
Swarthmore shot a torrid 63% (17-of-27) from the field in the second half, building up a lead that grew as large as 21 at one point.
Fliegelman was the leading man for the Garnet on Wednesday night, shooting 7-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the line for a game-high 18 points. Forward Steve Wolf added 12 points and three blocks while freshman center Jon Tundel came off the bench to shoot 6-of-10 for 12 points. Tundel also contributed three blocks for Swarthmore.
The Fords were led by Elefterakis with 13 points while Ben McDowell chipped in 10 points.
Swarthmore hits the road for its next contest, traveling to Ursinus on Saturday, January 21 for a 3:00 p.m. game.