Gates Big Day Not Enough as No. 13 Franklin & Marshall Crushes Garnet 75-51
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Freshman Will Gates scored a game-high 27 points and pulled down seven rebounds for the Swarthmore men's basketball team (2-10, 1-4), but No. 13 Franklin & Marshall saw three different players score above 17 points, as the Diplomats cruised to a 75-51 victory over Swat on Saturday afternoon from Tarble Pavilion.
Gates scored 16 consecutive Garnet points in the first half.
Despite a valiant effort in the first half, the Garnet simply had no answers for the talented Diplomats (10-2, 4-1). Anthony Brooks scored a team-high 18 points, while Steve McNally and Steve Tolliver each scored 17 points for Franklin & Marshall. Mike Baker added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds and five blocks. The Diplomats used their superior athleticism to out-score the Garnet 18-4 in fast break points while shooting an efficient 50 percent from the field.
The game opened with a promising start for the Garnet, who behind the play of Gates, built a lead of as many six points early in the first half. Gates scored 18 of the Garnet's first 21 points for the game - including 16 consecutive points - and his three-pointer with 10:02 remaining in the first half gave the Garnet a 18-17 lead.
But from that point, the Diplomats would use full-court pressure to surge back on top - going on separate 11-2 and 11-3 runs in the final 10 minutes of the half, heading into the locker room with a 37-24 lead. Gates finished the half with 18 of the Garnet's 24 points, while Tolliver scored 15 first-half points off the bench for F&M.
The Diplomats put the game out of reach in the second half. The F&M lead would hover between 15 and 17 points for first 10 minutes of the half, until a 12-0 F&M run from the 10: 40 to the 5:26 mark extended the lead to 29 points, turning the game into a rout.
The Diplomats found success from behind the arc, connecting on 6-of-11 three-pointers, including three from Tolliver. Gates finished with three of the Garnet's four three-pointers.
Junior Sam Lacy finished the game with a season-high five steals, while junior Ryan Carmichael scored seven points for the Garnet.
F&M finished with a 26-13 edge in bench points.
The Garnet return to action on Tuesday with a trip to Johns Hopkins. Action is slated to begin at 7:00 p.m.