ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Swarthmore College men's basketball team overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and picked up a 74-67 conference victory at Muhlenberg College on Wednesday night.
The Garnet, winners in four of their last five games, trailed by as many as 12 and did not gain their first lead until the 9:55 mark of the second half. Swarthmore stayed in front the rest of the way.
The Garnet struggled to get going early, converting just 32.3% of their shots over the opening 20 minutes, including 4-of-14 (28.6%) from three. Meanwhile, the Mules hit on exactly half of their shots to build their advantage. Swarthmore flipped the script in the second half, shooting 51.6% and holding Muhlenberg to 37.0%.
Four Garnet players reached double figures led by
Vinny DeAngelo with 19. DeAngelo was 7-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.
Cal Hanson tallied 16 points while
Michael Caprise recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the year.
Eddie Paquette chipped in with 11 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Mules opened with a 9-2 run as they converted four of their first five shots. At the other end, the Garnet missed their first five field goal attempts with their only two points coming at the foul line. DeAngelo broke the ice with a three at 14:46 and
Devin Burger added another triple after a Muhlenburg layup to get Swarthmore within three (11-8) with 14:08 on the clock.
- The Garnet went cold again and the Mules put together an 11-2 surge to earn their largest lead of the half (22-10) with 8:44 remaining. Swarthmore followed with 10 of the next 12 to cut the deficit to four (24-20) with 5:30 to go. The Garnet shot 4-of-6 during the stretch.
- After four Muhlenberg points, Swarthmore rallied with another 10-2 run to tie it at 30 with 2:20 left. The Garnet were perfect from the floor and at the line during the sequence. However, the Mules recovered and finished the frame with an 11-2 spurt to take a 41-32 advantage into the locker room.
- Muhlenberg posted five of the first seven points in the second half to match its largest lead of 12 (46-34). Swarthmore then got hot, shooting 6-of-9 and knocking down both of its three-point attempts to go on a 15-4 run and close the gap to one (50-49) at the 13:36 mark. Hanson led the way with eight points.
- The Mules got their cushion back to four (55-51) before the Garnet answered with nine straight points to take their first lead of the night with 9:55 remaining. DeAngelo led the stretch with four points and Burger drained the go-ahead three as Swarthmore forced four turnovers on defense, three of them via steals.
- Muhlenberg was within three (70-67) with 49 seconds to play. Paquette was able to penetrate for a layup to put the Garnet up five. Burger then came up with a steal and drew a foul, nailing both free throws to make it a seven-point difference (74-67) with 25 seconds to go. DeAngelo came up with yet another steal for Swarthmore and the Mules only managed one shot attempt in the final moments.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: DeAngelo 19
Rebounds: Caprise 13
Assists: Caprise 5
Steals: DeAngelo 4
UP NEXT
The Garnet (12-8, 9-4 Centennial) return home to face McDaniel College on Saturday at 3 p.m.
