Bullets Lock Down Garnet
GETTYSBURG, Pa. -- Crunch-time is upon the Centennial Conference as six teams are still alive in the race for the final three spots in the year-end playoffs.
Swarthmore's shooting touch vacated the Garnet at an in-opportune time, as the hometown Gettysburg Bullets took a big step towards securing one of the playoff bids with a 60-49 Centennial win Saturday afternoon. Sophomore forward Joe Spierenburg led Gettysburg with 15 points and nine rebounds as the Bullets held the Garnet to just 24.6% shooting from the floor for their third win in four games.
Swarthmore forward Ian McCormick '08 put up game-highs of 17 points and 13 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season. After Saturday's game, McCormick has 989 career points and 534 rebounds, looking to become just the sixth Swarthmore player to join the 1,000-pt/500-rebound club. He is only eight boards from passing current Garnet assistant coach Matt Gustafson '05 for ninth-all-time at Swarthmore. McCormick also picked up two blocks to increase his season-total to 46--the second-highest single-season total in school history (Rob Ruffin '92 had 50 swats in 1988-89).
Gettysburg (10-12, 8-8 CC) and Swarthmore (10-13, 7-9 CC) came into the afternoon tied with McDaniel for fourth place in the Centennial Conference standings (the top five teams make the CC playoffs—Johns Hopkins and Ursinus have already clinched). The Bullets have owned the series of late, winning the six previous meetings between the two schools, dating back to a 68-62 Swarthmore victory in Bream Gym in 2003-04.
Gettysburg found holes in the Swarthmore interior defense at the onset, getting three inside buckets from senior forward Brian Sateja to take a 6-1 lead at 16:40. McCormick hit the first Garnet field goal at 16:05, putting back an offensive rebound on the right block. Bullets' senior Julius Redd answered with a foul-line jumper at 14:55 to put the hometeam in front 10-3.
Swarthmore continued to work the offense through McCormick, cutting the Bullets' advantage to 15-13 after freshman guard Matt Allen spun a post-entry feed which McCormick finshed. The junior forward got loose on a fast-break and through down a two-handed jam at 10:15 to get Swarthmore within two.
Bullets' sophomore guard Dan Capkin, fourth in the Centennial with 16.9 points per game, put a stop to the Swarthmore surge with a leaner in the lane at 9:36, putting Gettysburg up 17-13.
Allen's three-pointer from the left wing gave the Garnet their first lead of the afternoon, 18-17 at 7:55 but Gettysburg senior Mike Beck dropped in his own triple on the next possession to start a 9-0 for the Bullets. The Bullets' Chris Nevolo converted a lay-up in transition to put the home team up 24-18 at the seven-minute mark.
Garnet freshman forward Matt Turner followed senior guard Chris Casey on a fast-break and tipped in the senior's miss to end the run and McCormick got another fast-break bucket to cut it the Bullets' lead to 26-22 with 3:35 left.
Beck finished off a nice pass from Capkin in the final minute of the half, sending the Bullets into the locker room with the 32-22 advantage.
McCormick led all scorers with 11 points while Sateja score eight points to go along with six rebounds for Gettysburg.
The Bullets' defense, ranked third in the Centennial by allowing only 62.0 points per game, held Swarthmore to just 23.7% shooting from the floor in the first half. Gettysburg also enjoyed a 29-20 edge on the glass.
McCormick scored the first two buckets of the second half to bring the Garnet within 32-26 at 18:25, forcing a 30-second Gettysburg time-out. The home team got lay-ups from Redd and Capkin to push the lead back to 10, 36-26 with 16:00 to go.
Swarthmore sophomore Raul Ordonez nailed a triple, Turner dropped in two free throws, and senior Dillon McGrew swished a three-pointer of his own as the Garnet went on a 8-4 run to get within 40-34 at 12:08.
Sateja finished off a jump hook at 11:44 and Capkin out-raced three Swarthmore defenders for a lay-in at 10:40 to put Gettysburg back in front by ten, 44-34.
The Bullets' battled through foul trouble in the second half (Redd and Sateja both picked up their fourth before the eight minute mark), but Spierenburg kept working inside, picking up the old-fashion three point play at 7:45 to put his team up by 12. The sophomore ran the floor on the next possession and Capkin hit him for an easy lay-in.
The 20-7 Bullets' run was capped by Nevolo's deep three-pointer with the shot clock dwindling, giving Gettysburg its largest lead of the afternoon, 60-41, with three minutes left.
Capkin finished the afternoon with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists while Sateja chipped in 10 points and six boards in just 15 minutes of action.
The Centennial playoff picture is still muddled with two games remaining. Haverford locked up one of the three remaining spots with a 51-50 win at Dickinson while Gettysburg stands alone in fourth at 8-8. There is now a four-way tie for fifth place at 7-9 between Swarthmore, McDaniel, Franklin & Marshall and Muhlenberg. The Garnet possess tie-breakers over McDaniel and F&M by virtue of sweeping the season series, while the Mules own the tie-breaker over the Garnet.
Swarthmore play the final regular season home game of 2006-07 on Wednesday, Feb. 14, welcoming Centennial rival Washington to Tarble Pavilion for a 7:30 game. The Garnet will honor its four seniors—Casey, guard Dillon McGrew, forward Mark Rohde, and forward Alan Walsh—prior to the start of Wednesday's game. The final regular season game will take place at Haverford on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2:00 p.m.