SWARTHMORE, Pa.—Five Garnet players scored in double figures to help No. 15 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball past the Dickinson College Red Devils 82-74 on Saturday afternoon. Dickinson had caught Swarthmore at 72-72 with just over a minute to play, but a tough midrange jump shot from
Cam Wiley with 56 seconds left put the Garnet ahead for good.
Saturday's tilt featured last season's Centennial Conference Championship contestants. Swarthmore has now beaten Dickinson six times in a row and improved to 15-2 on the season (9-1 Centennial). Dickinson slipped to 9-8 and 5-5 in conference.
Both teams had balanced attacks with five players reaching double digits in points. Swarthmore sophomore
Zac O'Dell had a monster performance with a game-high 18 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. O'Dell went 6-for-10 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Robbie Walsh also had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Conor Harkins reached double-digit points for the fifth time this season, netting all five of his attempts from behind the 3-point line.
Zack Yonda added 13 points, and
Cam Wiley posted 10.
Moses Romocki and Mike Hinkley led the Red Devils with 16 points each.
Swarthmore recorded 33 attempts from the free-throw line and converted a season-high 29 free throws. With Dickinson fouling late to recover possession, Swarthmore secured the win by going 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final 34 seconds.
Control of the lead fluctuated 20 times on Saturday. Down the stretch in the first half, Swarthmore trailed by one with two minutes to play.
Conor Harkins splashed a pair of 3-pointers to end the period and put Swarthmore up 42-39 at halftime.
Swarthmore built its lead to nine points with 12:17 to play in the second half following a pair of free throws from Yonda.
The Garnet lead was at seven points with six minutes to go, but Dickinson kept chipping away. Dickinson hit four consecutive free throws to tie the game at 72-72 with 1:23 to play.
Swarthmore improved to 9-0 at home this year. The Garnet are back at home on Thursday against Washington College.
