SWARTHMORE, PA - No. 18 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball team opened the new year with a victory 89-63 victory over Stevens Tech on Sunday afternoon at Tarble Pavilion.
The Garnet improve to 9-1, while the Ducks drop to 4-5. Sunday's non-conference victory extended Swarthmore's streak to three straight games over Stevens, and six straight overall.
Swarthmore won the opening tip, but was unable to capitalize on the possession as
George Visconti turned the ball over. An empty possession by the Ducks allowed the Garnet to run the ball down the court as
Ryan Ingram knocked down a three-pointer to give Swarthmore the opening bucket. Swarthmore and Stevens exchanged punches before the Garnet took a double-digit lead with 8:30 left in the half. Back-to-back three point buckets by Visconti and
Matt Mulvey. Once again, the Garnet defense came up big as they were able to stop the Ducks from cutting into the lead. After a pair of missed shots and grabbing both rebounds,
Abass Sallah hit two free throws to give Swarthmore a 29-12 lead. Behind nine points from Visconti and five from Mulvey, Swarthmore went into the half-time break leading 41-28.
Vinny DeAngelo and
George Corzine combined to score Swarthmore's first six points of the Garnet opened the second half with a 9-6 run. After a jumper by Matt Crowley with 15:50 left in the game, Stevens was held scoreless for the next three minutes and eight seconds. During that span, the Garnet opened up a 24 point lead.
Conor Harkins knocked down a three and was fouled by David Dixon with 14:35 to play. Harkins would hit the and one to give Swarthmore a 58-36 advantage. On the very next possession, Ingram blocked an attempted jumper by Brett Bischoping. Muvley's jumper capped the 8-0 run for the home team.
Swarthmore tallied 34 points off the bench, including 25 in the second half. Mulvey and Corzine each finished the game with ten points off the bench, while
Justin Tucker,
Aidan Godfrey,
Major Eason and
Jared Groff tallied three points. DeAngelo led the Garnet with 15 points, as Visconti added 14 and Harkinis finished with 12. The Garnet shot 50.8% from the field and 52.2% from three-point range.
The Garnet return to the court on Wednesday as they host McDaniel College in Centennial Conference play at 7:00 p.m.
