Box Score
WESTMINSTER, Md. – Senior Evan Pupelis scored 11 points and keyed a second-half comeback that lifted McDaniel to a 53-48 win over the Swarthmore College men's basketball team on Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Gill Center.

Trailing by two through 20 minutes of play, Swarthmore came out firing in the second half and burst ahead, 35-31, by getting consecutive buckets from freshmen Luke McCartin and Chris Bourne. Senior Joe Keedy then nailed a 3-point field goal to make it 38-31 and force the Green Terror to take a timeout with 13:57 left in regulation.

Coming out of the break, the host school started chipping away at the deficit and netted its first field goal in nearly five minutes on a Cameron Royster layup with 12:41 on the clock. More than seven minutes later, the Green Terror went on top for the first time since the opening moments of the frame by getting a layup from Pupelis that made it 43-41 at the 5:21 mark. Pupelis then made another shot and set up a Philip Perry bucket to cap a 10-0 run for the hosts and create a 47-41 score with 4:06 left.

But Swarthmore did not go down without a fight and put itself in a position to at least tie the game and force overtime. Freshman Sam Lebryk made a layup and Bourne followed by drilling his first of two free throws to make it 51-48 with 34 seconds left. After missing the second charity shot, Bourne made up for the mistake by corralling his own rebound.

Coming out of a timeout, the Garnet were able to get junior Karl Barkley an open look on a pick-and-roll play. The guard's shot, however, was no good and the Green Terror got the ball back. Perry then made his foul shots on the other end to put the game on ice.

McDaniel (17-6, 12-4), which qualified for the Centennial Conference Tournament with the victory, broke loose to take a commanding 22-12 lead with under seven minutes remaining in the first half before the Garnet started to claw their way back. McCartin drilled two 3-pointers and Barkley nailed a shot from downtown to help Swarthmore come within two at 29-27. The Garnet had the last shot and an opportunity to go ahead heading into halftime, but a McCartin 3-point attempt from the left arc bounced off the rim and was rebounded by senior Jimmy Cranwell.

McCartin and Bourne each finished with nine points and seven boards to lead the way for Swarthmore, which has had its last five conference losses all come by single digits. Senior Jay Kober also finished with nine points to help pace the Garnet in the losing effort.

McDaniel was propelled by Pupelis' 11-point, five-rebound performance off the bench. Royster and Perry each finished with 10 points apiece.

Swarthmore (6-17, CC 3-13) will wrap up its 2013-14 season with a two-game homestand, beginning on Wednesday, Feb. 19 when it entertains Washington College at 8 p.m. in Tarble Pavilion.