GETTYSBURG, Pa.—Trailing by three at the half, Swarthmore College Men's Basketball out-scored the Gettysburg College Bullets by 10 in the second half en route to a 76-69 win on Monday evening.
Swarthmore sophomore
Zack Yonda went without a shot of any kind in the first half but then unleashed all 17 of his points in the second period. Classmate
Matt Brennan scored a game-high 21 points and went 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. In the two games with Gettysburg this season, Brennan has been the leading scorer in both, posting a combined 47 points.
Gettysburg's scoring was spread primarily among four players in double figures, of which Kevin Gladstone had a team-high 14 points.
Swarthmore's first lead of the game didn't come until 7:45 remaining in the first half when it took the lead 23-21 in the middle of a seven-point run. Gettysburg recaptured the lead and scored a 3-pointer with 27 seconds left to go into the locker room ahead 36-33.
Out of the gate in the second half, Swarthmore's
Robbie Walsh went to work in the paint, scoring three field goals in a row. Yonda then knocked down his first basket of the game, a 3-pointer from straightaway. He hit a free throw less than a minute later to cap off a 10-2 Swarthmore run through the first four minutes of the period.
The Garnet lead remained intact the rest of the game, but the Bullets kept it close and pulled within one with 7:27 remaining. With 5:44 left, Yonda made a backdoor cut into the lane and received a well-executed pass from
Sean Thaxter to set up a layup. Thaxter made a layup of his own with 4:02 to go to give Swarthmore a seven-point advantage. Gettysburg crept closer with a 3-pointer by Cody Kiefer on the next possession. Yonda gave the Garnet some insurance on the next possession; after a pump fake on the perimeter, Yonda missed the mid-range jumpshot, but grabbed his own rebound and finished at the rim.
Swarthmore took a 69-61 lead with 1:58 to play when Walsh recovered a loose ball near the elbow, and while still on the ground, passed to
Sam Lebryk for the easy bucket on the low right block.
The Garnet hit 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute-and-change.
Swarthmore edged Gettysburg 35-34 in the rebounding category. Thaxter led Swarthmore with 12 boards.
Monday's game was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was moved because of winter storm Jonas. The Garnet will now play three games this week continuing on the road Wednesday at Haverford College.
