SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Swarthmore College Men's Basketball opened the 2016-17 season with a 17-point home victory against the PSU-Abington Nittany Lions on Tuesday night. Led by 17 points from junior guard Zack Yonda, the Garnet prevailed over the Lions 69-52.

Yonda also threw down the first Swarthmore dunk of the season, driving down an open path from the left wing for the two-hand jam.

Sophomores Cam Wiley and Henry Cousineau chipped in double-digit points with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Seniors Sam Lebryk and Chris Bourne added nine.

The Garnet punished the Lions on the glass, pulling down 48 rebounds to the visitors' 25. Freshman Nate Shafer led the Garnet with 11 rebounds. The rookie rejected five shots on the defensive end as well.

Abington had pulled within five points with seven minutes and change remaining in the second half, but the Garnet held off the late surge. Swarthmore responded with a 7-0 run with three layups and a free throw. Shafer blocked two shots on the other end during that run.

The Garnet shot 48 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. At the free-throw line, the Garnet went 15-for-24 (62.5 percent). Swarthmore held the Nittany Lions to 16-of-55 shooting from the field (29.1 percent).

The lead belonged to Swarthmore from the opening basket to the final buzzer. The Garnet dashed out to a 7-0 run to open the game. PSU-Abington pulled the score to 7-5, but Swarthmore then ran away with a 17-0 run. Their 24-5 lead with nine minutes remaining marked the largest lead in the game.

The Garnet return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Centenary College.