Garnet Complete Season Sweep of Fords
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Ian McCormick '08 scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half as the Garnet withstood a late rally by the Haverford Fords to pull out a 62-57 victory. The win completes the first season sweep by the Swarthmore men's and women's teams over their Haverford counterparts since the 2000-01 season.
The Garnet honored senior co-captain Eric Williams '06 in a ceremony before the game. Williams got the start, his first of his career, and hit a key jumper early in the second half to help the Garnet build their largest lead of the game.
With hundreds of fans of both teams in the gym, the Garnet quickly quieted the rowdy Ford supporters by scoring on their first two possessions and kept them silent by clamping down on the defensive end. The visitors managed only two field goals in the first 8:47 of play as the Garnet build a 16-6 lead. Noam Fliegelman '08 came off the bench to cap the run with a three-pointer. The sophomore guard would hit three of five shots, including two of three from beyond the arc, to lead the team with eight points at halftime.
Swarthmore-Haverford games are rarely blowouts, though, and this game would be no different as the Fords ripped off the next six points before Matt Kurman '08 nipped the run in the bud with a trey. A few minutes later, with forward Steve Wolf '08 sidelined with two fouls, Mark Rohde '07 got a chance to provide a spark. The forward tipped in a Fliegelman miss, hit a three from the top of key, and grabbed a pair of rebounds in six minutes of action.
The Garnet built their lead as large as 11, 32-21 with 2:51 to play, before Haverford went on another 6-0 run to close the half. Ford guard John Elefterakis picked Chris Casey pocket and fed Brent Anderson for a layup to close out the scoring with Swarthmore ahead 32-27.
Swarthmore again asserted its will early in the second half, eight of the first 10 points and forcing an early Ford timeout. Again the visitors came back, closing the gap to 46-44 on a Jason Polykoff layup with 9:15 to play. Elefterakis came up with another steal on the ensuing possession, but forward Ben McDowell missed a potentially game-tying layup at the other end. The Fords kept the game close, but would not get another chance that good to even the score. McCormick '08 quickly extended the lead back to five, hitting a fallaway jumper while getting fouled and converting the free throw.
McCormick showed off his shooting range twice more in the next few minutes, hitting a pair of long jumpers to help the Garnet hold off the feisty Fords. Senior guard Jason Polykoff fed freshman forward Adam Howland for an open three pointer on one possession and converted a layup on the next to bring his team back within two points at 55-53. McCormick hit a pair from the line, but Howland made another jumper to keep it a one-possession game. Elefterakis had a chance to put the Fords ahead, but his three-pointer rimmed out with two minutes to play.
McCormick made one of two from the stripe at the other end, and the teams exchanged turnovers before Elefterakis bricked another three with 35 seconds remaining.
The Garnet guards then closed out the win with clutch free-throw shooting. Casey and Matt Kurman '08 both made two of two, with Kurman's pair ending the scoring with 18 seconds left.
McCormick made 7 of 12 shots from the field and four of five from the line for an efficient 18 points and tied with Wolf for the team lead with eight rebounds. Kurman, with 12 points, was the only other Garnet player in double figures.
Forward Ray Brown led the Fords with 14 points on 5-6 shooting. Polykoff added 13 and Howland 12. Elefterakis filled up the stat sheet with nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
The Garnet bettered their win total from last season with the victory and finish the year with a 5-20 record, 4-14 in the Centennial.