Kurman Raises Bar, Garnet Fall in OT
SALEM, Va. -- Swarthmore senior guard Matt Kurman scored a career-high 23 points and classmate Steve Wolf posted a double-double as the Garnet (2-7) fell to Ferrum 101-92 in overtime at the Domino's New Years Classic hosted by Roanoke College Friday afternoon.
Swarthmore will take on FDU-Florham in the consolation game on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
The Panthers (6-6) grabbed the early 9-4 lead 3:25 into the game, but Swarthmore began to rain threes. A15-4 Garnet run resulted in a 19-13 Swarthmore advantage at the 13:20 mark. Garnet sophomore guard Matt Allen (Seattle, Wash. / Lakeside) canned one of his two triples in the game to give Swarthmore its largest lead of the day, 25-17 at 9:34.
Ferrum turned up the defensive pressure in the latter stages of the second half, generating 17 points off Swarthmore turnovers to assume a 45-38 lead at halftime.
The Panthers advantage grew to as much as ten, 57-47, with 15:11 remaining. The Garnet men unleashed a barrage of threes—four from Kurman (picture above) and one from captain Chris Nana-Sinkam '08 (Lancaster, Pa. / Manheim Central)—to re-take the lead 66-62 with just under eleven minutes to play.
The teams went back and forth for the next eight minutes before the Garnet nudged ahead by six, 83-77, on a pair of made free throws by Wolf at 2:38. Panthers’ forward Jon Godsey (Gladys, Va. / Wm. Campbell) poured in eight points in the final minutes to send the game into the extra period knotted at 85-all.
It was all Ferrum in the overtime, with the majority of the action taking place at the charity stripe. The Panthers nailed all eight attempts while Swarthmore only converted five-of-ten from the line. On the night, Ferrum sank 30-of-39 (76.9%) at the free throw line while the Garnet made 18-of-26 (69.2%). The difference in the game could be seen in the turnover category—the 24 Panther steals accounted for 34 of their points.
Godsey led Ferrum with 25 points while his freshman frontcourt partner Derek Mitchell (Newport News, Va. / Heritage) contributed a double-double (14 points, 12 rebounds). Keith Crump (Richmond, Va. / Varina) added 21 points for Ferrum while Jerrell Wade (Ferrum, Va. / Franklin County) posted 11 points, eight assists and a game-high six steals.
Kurman (Rockville, Md. / Walter Johnson) led four Garnet scorers in double figures, shooting eight-for-14 from the floor with six assists. Swarthmore center Ian McCormick (Seattle, Wash. / University Prep) also hit double-digits, scoring 16 points with eight rebounds while Wolf (Philadelphia, Pa. / Father Judge) registered his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Junior forward Raul Ordonez (Miami, Fla. / Belen Jesuit) reached double-figures for the third time with 11 points in 21 minutes of action.
Click here for the box score.