SWARTHMORE, Pa.—In front of a raucous, standing-room only crowd in Tarble Pavilion, Swarthmore College Men's Basketball defended its home court on Friday evening in the Centennial Conference Semifinals. The top-seeded Garnet battered the fifth-seeded Ursinus College Bears 86-66, advancing to the Centennial Conference Championship game for the second time in as many seasons but the just third time in program history.
The last time the Garnet appeared in the league title game was on March 1, 1997, when the Garnet lost at home to the Dickinson College Red Devils. The stage is set for the grudge match 20 years in the making as the Garnet will host the Red Devils at 7 p.m. in Saturday's championship. Dickinson advanced to the championship after beating Franklin & Marshall 70-64 Friday.
Swarthmore had five players score double digits on Friday, with sophomore guard Cam Wiley leading the way with 22 points. Zack Yonda netted 16 points, and Henry Cousineau, Zac O'Dell and Robbie Walsh all scored 11 points. Walsh recorded his first double-double of the season by also grabbing 10 rebounds.
The Garnet shot 58.2 percent from the floor and an even 50 percent from beyond the arc. Swarthmore free-throw shooting was an anomaly, however, as the Garnet shot worse from the charity stripe (56 percent) than from the floor.
Swarthmore, known for its team rebounding and defense this season, out-rebounded the visitors 46-26, held Ursinus to 35.5 percent shooting and blocked six shots. Freshman Nate Shafer led the team with three blocks, upping his league-leading total to 62. Walsh finished with a pair of rejections.
The Garnet earned their first double-digit lead of the game on a three-pointer knocked down by Jim Lammers with 3:51 to play in the first, making it 33-22. Ursinus cut the gap to eight points following a layup five seconds before halftime.
Ursinus inched within four points early in the second half, but the Garnet gained the separation they needed with a 6-0 run capped off with a steal and fastbreak layup by Yonda with 14 minutes to play.
With 5:51 to go, the Garnet had steadily pulled away, going ahead by more than 20 (72-51) on a pair of free throws from Walsh. Swarthmore's lead reached its largest with 3:17 to play off a layup by Chris Bourn that made it 82-56.
The Garnet will be back at it on Saturday at 7 p.m., playing for their first Centennial Championship and their first league championship since 1951. The winner of Saturday's championship game continues on to the NCAA Division III tournament with an automatic qualifying bid.
