SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College men's basketball team (0-6, 0-3) came tantalizingly close to its first victory of the 2012-13 season, but fell to visiting Ursinus in overtime by a score of 82-79 on Saturday afternoon from Tarble Pavilion.

Junior Jay Kober led the Garnet with 23 points, including the game-tying lay-up with :01 second remaining in regulation to force overtime. Junior Joe Keedy had an all-around excellent game, recording his first career double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Karl Barkley finished with 16 points, junior Jordan Federer netted a season-high 13 points and senior Will Gates added 11 points.

The Bears were led by Jesse Krasna, who finished with 20 points, six rebounds, five assists and netted the go-ahead score with nine seconds left to play in regulation.  Kevin Janowski finished with 17 points, including several clutch three-pointers late in regulation and in overtime. Ursinus won the game at the free-throw line, hitting 23-of-26 foul shots.

The Garnet led for a majority of the game, buoyed by a strong day behind the arc (12 three-pointers) and its best defensive effort of the season, but could not close out down the stretch. 

Swarthmore led by as many as 12 points in the first half and went into the locker room with 33-29 advantage. Fueled by consecutive three-pointers from Barkely, Federer and Kober, the Garnet took a 49-41 lead with 16:13 remaining in the game, its largest lead of the second half.

From that point on, Ursinus began to slowly claw its way back into the game. After some back-and-forth play, the Bears took their first lead of the contest (62-61) with 4:45 left play on a lay-up from John Ward, the All-Centennial performer whom the Garnet limited for most of the game.

Trailing for the first time all game, the Garnet did not back down, instead getting a lift from its top shooter. Barkley drilled three-pointers on consecutive possessions, putting Swarthmore back on top 67-64 with 2:57 to go.

Swarthmore led 67-66 in the final minute of play, but the Bears' point guard Krasna came through to put Ursinus on top. Following a missed three-pointer by Keedy with 20 seconds to play,  Krasna got the ball in transition, drove to the basket and hit a running lay-up while drawing a foul. Karsna completed the and-one, putting Ursinus on top 69-67 with nine seconds to play.

Down two points, the Garnet forced overtime thanks to some late-game heroics from Kober. The junior took an inbound pass on the left wing, blew by an Ursinus defender and hit a running lay-up in the waning seconds to tie the score. Ursinus almost pulled off a miracle at the buzzer, but Krasna's full-court heave hit the back iron, and the game went to overtime tied 69-69.

In overtime, both offenses went cold, but the Bears found themselves ahead 73-71 with just over a minute to play. The definitive play came at the 1:11 mark, as Ursinus' Janowski buried a three-pointer from the left corner with the shot clock expiring, putting the Bears on top 76-71 and essentially sealing the win.

Federer and sophomore Matt Sharma finished with a game-high four assists for the Garnet. Seven of Keedy's team-high 11 rebounds came on the offensive end.

Swarthmore returns to Centennial Conference action on Wednesday when it hosts Washington College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m.