Offense Comes to Life as Garnet Defeats Drew 76-69
LEXINGTON, Va. - What a difference a day makes.
Just 24 hours after the Swarthmore men's basketball team struggled to find any rhythm in its first game in 24 days - shooting just 28 percent and going 1-of-17 from behind the arc - the Garnet came to life against Drew University, with the Swat offense connecting on a season-high 10 three-pointers and the defense forcing 17 turnovers as the Garnet (2-8, 1-2) defeated the Rangers 76-69 on Sunday afternoon to capture the consolation title at the Washington & Lee Tournament.
Freshman Will Gates scored 29 points - behind four three-pointers - while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds to lead a balanced Swat scoring attack. Senior Danny Walker and junior Ryan Carmichael each scored 12 points, while freshman Jordan Martinez scored 10 points and recorded five rebounds and four assists. Senior captain Matt Allen scored nine points, including four huge free-throws in the final minutes.
Senior captain Matt Allen came up clutch with four free throws in the final minute of play.
The victory is Swarthmore's first victory away from Tarble Pavilion since the Garnet defeated FDU-Florham 89-84 in the Roanoke Tournament on January 5, 2008. Ironically, that was also the Garnet's last tournament victory and the last time Swat visited the state of Virginia.
"The team played much better today than yesterday," said head coach Lee Wimberly. "It gives us a lot of confidence going back into conference play."
With the game tied 31-31 to start the second half, the Garnet took command early in the second half. With Swarthmore leading 40-38 with just under 16:00 left in the game, the Garnet ripped off a 13-4 run - sparked by four Swat three-pointers and just one Drew field goal - over the next eight minutes to take control of the game. The final three-pointer from the hands of Martinez gave Swat a 53-42 lead with 8:33 left in the game.
From there, the Swat lead would hover between eight to 10 points until the Rangers (2-7, 1-1) made a final push within the final three minutes of play. With the Garnet up 63-52 with 2:46 remaining, Drew rallied behind the offense of guard Terrell Brown, who helped to trim the lead to 69-66 with :48 seconds left in the game.
But with the game on the line, the Garnet came through at the line - finishing 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in the final 1:06 to seal the victory. During the final minute, both Allen and Gates went 4-of-4 from the line.
Brown led the Rangers with 22 points while Joe Horvarth added 15 points.
For his efforts, Gates was named to the Washington & Lee All-Tournament Team.
Swarthmore finished the game with a season-high 76 points and season-low eight turnovers. The Rangers held the rebounding edge 41-30, while both teams shot an identical 41 percent from the field.
For the game, Swarthmore finished 20-of-27 from the line.
The Garnet return to Centennial Conference action on Wednesday with a trip to Gettysburg. Action is slated to begin at 8:00 p.m.