Offense Leads Swarthmore To Win
LANGHORNE, Pa. - Four Garnet players scored in double figures as the Swarthmore men's basketball team reached a season-high point total in defeating Philadelphia Biblical University 77-66 Wednesday night. Junior center Ian McCormick led the Garnet (4-7) with 19 points while classmate Steve Wolf added 17 points.
Swarthmore, fresh off a holiday trip to Texas, put up a season-best 52 points in the first half after nailing nine three-pointers. Junior guard Matt Kurman was a perfect 4 of 4 from beyond the arc to lead all scorers with 14 points, while freshman guard Sean Johnson added three triples in his first collegiate start.
The game was a close one for the first eight minutes as two PBU free throws made the score 18-16 Swarthmore. The Garnet got two triples from Kurman in an 8-0 run to increase the advantage to 26-16 at 10:34. Swarthmore increased its lead to 19 with a 10-2 spurt in the final five minutes of the half—McCormick dropped in a pair of jumpers and Kurman sank another three as the Garnet led 51-32 with 2:34 to play.
The Crimson Eagles (3-6) scored the final five points of the half to cut Swarthmore's advantage at the intermission to 52-37. The Garnet shot 51.4% from the field and 64.3% (9 of 14) from three-point range while handing out 14 assists.
Swarthmore continued to make shots in the second half, pushing its lead to as large as 20 after a Johnson jumper at 16:12. The Garnet led by at least 14 until the final of minute of play, easily cruising to a second win in three tries to open the spring semester.
The Garnet shot a season-best 51.8% (29 of 56) from the floor while posting 21 assists on the night—also a season-high.
McCormick shot 9 of 16 from the floor while picking up two assists and two blocks. Wolf got a majority of his points at the charity stripe (8 of 10) while Kurman finished 5 of 7 from the field while handing out a game-high five assists. Johnson hit for a career-highs in minutes (33), points (11), and assists (four) while senior Mark Rhode filled up the stat sheet with a game-high eight rebounds, six points, and five assists in 22 minutes of action.
Swarthmore resumes Centennial Conference action on this Saturday, January 6 at Dickinson College. The Garnet hit the Tarble Pavilion floor on January when Centennial-rival Gettysburg College comes to town for a 4:00 p.m. game.