Johnson Delivers Road Win for Swarthmore
WESTMINSTER, Md. - Swarthmore freshman guard Sean Johnson sank a three-pointer with 8.2 seconds left to send the Garnet to a 66-63 Centennial victory over hometown McDaniel in the Gill Center Tuesday night.
McDaniel's Joseph Hunter tied the game at 63-63 with a three-pointer from the top of the key as 13.4 showed on the clock. The Garnet came right up the floor and Johnson drilled the game-winner from the left wing. The Green Terror got one more look but Hunter's shot came up short as Swarthmore won in Westminster for just the third time in 13 seasons (McDaniel had won the last three meetings between the schools).
Junior guard Matt Kurman led Swarthmore (5-8 ovreall, 2-4 CC) with 12 points while classmate Ian McCormick added 11 points in 19 minutes of action. Freshman forward Matt Turner continued his strong play, collecting 11 points and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds. Johnson was 4 for 5 in the second half, scoring all nine of his points in the final 20 minutes.
Strong shooting and efficient rebounding by the Green Terror helped the home team build a 27-18 lead in the first half. Chad Arrington finished off a dunk at 6:48 top put McDaniel up by nine and ignited a 7-0 run that put the Green Terror in front, 32-18, with 4:51 left in the half. Turner put a stop the run by sinking a free throw at 2:41.
A three-pointer by Swarthmore first-year guard Matt Allen and two more Turner free throws cut McDaniel's lead to 10 at halftime
Brett Foelber led McDaniel with nine first-half points while Steve Wolf '08 was high-man for the Garnet with six points. The Green Terror held a 28-18 advantage on the backboards while shooting 42.4% from the field and holding the Garnet to just 28.6% from the floor.
Turner made consecutive baskets to force an early McDaniel time-out at the start of the second half. A jumper by Wolf, a three-pointer by Kurman, and a basket by Johnson capped an 11-0 Swarthmore run to put Garnet in front for the first time, 37-36 with 15:15 left.
McDaniel's Chris Prior cut the run short with a jumper but Johnson kept the Swarthmore momentum rolling with a lay-up at 14:45. The Garnet pushed their lead to six, 48-42, following a triple by Allen at 11:42.
The Green Terror responded with a 10-3 run to re-take the lead, 52-51, after a pair of free throws by Arrington at 8:46. The game saw limited action until the final minutes when Turner broke a 59-59 tie with a steal and a fast-break lay-up at 3:21. Following a free throw by McDaniel's Josh McKay at 1:43, Kurman found McCormick inside for an easy bucket and a three-point lead, 63-60, at 1:25. This set up the shoot-out between Hunter and Johnson, with the Swarthmore lefty coming out on top.
The Garnet won their third game of the second semester despite being out-rebounded (45-36) and struggling at the free-throw line (9 of 19). Swarthmore was able to overcome all of that by shooting almost 55% from the floor in the second half—the team's best showing of the season.
Foelber led McDaniel (6-6 overall, 3-3 CC) with 14 points while Arrington added 12 points and eight rebounds.
The Garnet hit the Tarble Pavilion floor on Thursday, January 11 when Centennial-rival Gettysburg College comes to town for a 4:00 p.m. game. It is the first time in 35 days Swarthmore will play at home, where it posted a 2-2 record in the first semester.