Box Score

SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Swarthmore College men's basketball team opened its 2014-15 campaign with a 75-65 loss to RIT on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Tarble Pavilion as part of the Equinox Classic.
 
Swarthmore controlled the first half and burst out to a 13-3 advantage less than three minutes into the contest. Freshman Matt Brennan helped factor into 11 of the Garnet's opening 13 points by canning a 3-pointer on the first possession of the game, sinking two free throws and setting up a trey by senior Karl Barkley as well as sophomore Chris Bourne's 3-point play the old-fashioned way.
 
The Tigers began to rally and came within two points on a pair of free throws from Miguel Lopez before a Sheldon Clay jumper gave the visitors their first lead at 23-22 with 8:58 on the clock. The Garnet ended the frame on a 7-2 run that ended when sophomore Tom Wilmots found classmate Luke McCartin for a layup that beat the buzzer and produced a 44-40 advantage for the Garnet at the break.
 
RIT, however, started the second half by rattling off eight unanswered and never looked back. A.J. Horde made a layup to break a 44-all tie and force the Garnet to burn a timeout, and the deficit grew to as many as 15 on a Lopez layup that was set up by Horde to make it 71-56 with 4:21 remaining in regulation. The Tigers held a double-digit lead the rest of the way.
 
Bourne registered a game-high 18 points to go along with eight boards to lead the way for the Garnet. Sophomore Sam Lebryk contributed 10 points, while Brennan finished with seven points and a team-leading three assists. Freshman Andrew Kaufmann and McCartin each added seven points off the bench.
 
RIT was paced by J.P. Reagan, who led four Tigers in twin figures with 16 points.  Horde registered 12 points, eight steals and six assists. His steals and assists numbers were game highs.
 
Swarthmore (0-1) will wrap up competing in the Equinox Classic when it takes on Bard tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. on the campus of Haverford College.