SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Two of the top Centennial Conference teams collided on Wednesday as No. 24 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball (18-4 overall, 12-3 Centennial) hosted the Ursinus College Bears (13-9, 10-5). Swarthmore maintained its grip on first place in the league with the 84-74 win. Junior Zack Yonda, who entered the game with 999 career points, scored a team-high 20 points and eclipsed the millennial mark with 8:26 to play in the first off a successful 3-pointer.
Yonda scored all four of his field goals from 3-point range (4-for-7) and went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Cam Wiley continued his season-long streak of double-digit scoring efforts with 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field. Wiley also recorded eight rebounds and four assists.
The Garnet also had two players post a dozen points. Freshman Nate Shafer, making his third start, recorded a double-double by scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Shafer also blocked three shots; the Garnet blocked seven field goal attempts as a team. Sam Lebryk scored his 12 points while going 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
The Garnet went 14-for-31 (45.2 percent) from 3-point distance. The visitors weren't too shabby from deep, hitting 40 percent of their attempts (8-of-20). Ursinus senior Matt Knowles went 4-for-4 from long range, 7-for-10 from the floor and 12-for-12 from the free-throw line to finish with a game-high 30 points.
Late in the first half, the Garnet knocked down three triples to convert a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead with 2:16 to go. Ursinus closed the gap to three by the break, but Swarthmore got hot, shooting 70 percent from 3-point range and 51.7 percent overall. The Garnet lead reached its peak with 1:20 to play when they led 84-67. Ursinus closed out the game on a 7-0 run, but the decision was never in question.
Swarthmore squares off with the second seed in the conference on Saturday when it hosts Johns Hopkins University at 3 p.m. The Garnet hold a one-game advantage over the Blue Jays (11-4 Centennial) in the conference standings.
