SWARTHMORE, Pa.-Swarthmore College Men's Basketball improved to 4-0 on Saturday and handed the Cairn University Highlanders (4-1) their first loss of the season. Swarthmore is having its hottest start to a season since winning four straight to open the 1949-50 season.

The Garnet asserted themselves on the glass in the 64-57 non-conference win, out-rebounding the Highlanders 48-30.

With 3-point shots not falling the Garnet's way on Saturday (1-for-10 from 3-point range), the Garnet had to rely on working the ball into the paint and earning trips to the free throw line. Junior forward Chris Bourne tallied a game-high 20 points, shooting 7-for-13 (53.8 percent) from the floor and sinking 6-of-10 free throw attempts. Bourne's free throws all came in the final 7:07 of the game. By grabbing 12 rebounds, he notched a double-double. Robbie Walsh joined Bourne in the double-double club with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Walsh also swatted three of Swarthmore's six blocks.

Swarthmore shot 40.4 percent from the floor Saturday and limited Cairn to 32.2 percent overall. However, Cairn kept pace with Swarthmore for most of the contest by knocking down timely 3-pointers. The Highlanders shot 40 percent from downtown (10-for-25) led by a 4-for-7 afternoon by Gerroid Doughty II from deep. Doughty led the Highlanders with 16 points.

The Garnet took an 8-0 lead to begin the contest, keeping the Highlanders off the board for nearly all of the first six minutes. Cairn caught the Garnet with 6:59 to go in the first period on a Doughty 3-pointer, knotting the game at 18-18.

With 2:46 remaining in the first, Walsh converted an old-fashioned three-point play, sinking the layup, drawing the foul and hitting the free throw. Remarkably, the free throw was the only one attempted by the Garnet in the first half.

After a Highlander layup, Michael Rubayo scored on a post-up move to send Swarthmore into the locker room up 29-28.

The second half turned into a back-and-forth struggle with six tied points and eight lead changes. Cairn took its biggest lead, five points, with 9:34 to go in the game. The Garnet locked down defensively over the next six minutes and kept the Highlanders without a field goal in that span. Swarthmore recovered some ground with a Zack Yonda layup followed by two free throws by Matt Brennan on the next possession. Free throws by Chris Bourne put Swarthmore back up 49-48 with 7:07 to go.

The Garnet made their first 3-pointer of the game with 3:13 to play which gave Swarthmore a 54-52 lead. Bourne grabbed an offensive board and put back the layup with 2:15 to go to put Swarthmore ahead 56-52. A Bourne free throw gave Swarthmore the 57-52 lead with 1:13 to go.

Cairn, who committed 21 personal fouls in the second half, began to intentionally foul down the stretch to stop the clock and attempt to recover missed free throws. In the final minute, Bourne sank 3-of-4 free throws and Brennan hit all four of his attempts from the charity stripe to secure the win for the Garnet.

Swarthmore returns to conference play on Tuesday when it hosts Washington College at 8 p.m.