SWARTHMORE, Pa.—A strong second half allowed No. 25 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball to pull away from the visiting Misericordia University Cougars 93-75 on Sunday afternoon.
Zack Yonda hit one of the biggest shots of the game, sinking a 3-pointer to beat the first-half buzzer and even the score at 33 going into the locker room. Yonda posted a game-high 23 points while shooting 7-for-13 from the floor and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line.
Cam Wiley added 17 points and six assists for the Garnet. Sophomore
Zac O'Dell showed some range, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers en route to 13 points.
Robbie Walsh tallied 12 points and added six rebounds. Freshman guard
Abass Sallah matched him for the team high in boards. The Garnet finished with a +10 rebound advantage over the Cougars.
Swarthmore improved to 4-0, and Misericordia dipped to 2-3.
The visitors scored first Sunday and led by as much as seven points in the first half. Swarthmore never led in the first half. Down by seven with 2:20 to play in the period, the Garnet chipped away with
Jim Lammers dishing to
Nate Shafer for the layup at the 2:01 mark. Yonda then followed with a 3-pointer after an offensive rebound by
Ryan Ingram; however, Misericordia stuck a 3-pointer on the other end to stretch its lead back to five.
Ingram again followed up his shot and got another offensive rebound with 18 seconds left. He finished the next jumper to make it a three-point game. The Garnet drew a charge on the other end to win back the final possession of the period. Yonda ran a pick-and-pop with Wiley up top and drained a long 3-pointer as time expired to even the game at 33-33.
Misericordia led by two points after three minutes of the second half. O'Dell knocked down a 3-pointer with 15:54 to play to give Swarthmore the lead, a lead the Garnet would not relinquish. The Garnet dashed out to a 15-0 run in the middle of the period to put the game out of reach.
Swarthmore hosts Muhlenberg College on Thursday at 8 p.m.
