CHESTER, Pa. – The Swarthmore College men's basketball team used a 15-2 run in the final four-plus minutes to race past Widener University on the road, 81-76, on Tuesday night and pick up its fourth consecutive victory.
The Garnet led for less than three minutes of game time and they trailed 72-66 with 8:07 remaining in the contest. Both teams went scoreless for nearly four minutes before
Brady Kageyama's jumper with 4:16 to go sparked Swarthmore's surge as the Garnet stormed ahead to steal the victory from the Pride.
Nyle Coleman's free throws with 58 seconds left put Swarthmore in front for good and they closed it out at the line down the stretch.
Eddie Paquette poured in a season-high 17 points to lead the Garnet. He added seven rebounds, two steals, and one assist.
Cal Hanson (15), Kageyama (14), and
Devin Burger (11) also scored in double figures. It was a career high for Kageyama and a season best for Hanson.
Caleb Aurelien and Burger each grabbed a team-high eight boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
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Aidan Godfrey hit a three for Swarthmore's opening basket and the Garnet had a 3-2 lead one minute into the game. Widener answered with six straight points to go in front 8-3. Godfrey came back with another triple and Paquette made a floater to tie it up at eight at the 16:46 mark.
- The Pride went on a 17-8 run to take a nine-point advantage (25-16) with 10:18 to play in the first half. Widener shot 7-of-11 with a pair of three-pointers during the stretch while limiting Swarthmore to just 2-of-11 shooting. The Garnet bounced back with eight of the next 10 points to close the gap to three (27-24) with 8:01 left. Coleman scored four points while
Quaye Agoyo and Paquette tallied two apiece. However, the Pride then netted back-to-back layups to create separation once more. Widener held onto the lead for the rest of the period and went into halftime in front 47-42. The Pride shot a blistering 63.6% over the opening 20 minutes.
- Widener scored the opening layup of the second half to increase the margin to seven (49-42). Swarthmore then got going with a 9-3 run to cut the deficit to one (52-51). Paquette drilled a three and
Ryan Chu, Burger, and Hanson all had two points. The Pride recovered to tally six of the next eight to restore a five-point edge (58-53) with 14:47 on the clock.
- The Garnet had an 8-2 stretch to give them their first lead since early in the contest, 61-60, with 13:09 to go. Paquette led the way with four points, Kageyama converted a three-point play, and Burger added a free throw. Widener responded with six consecutive points to go back on top, 67-61.
- A layup and foul shot at the 8:07 mark put the Pride ahead 72-66. It was the last points for Widener for nearly six minutes as Swarthmore dominated the late portion of the game. The Garnet posted eight in a row to take a 74-72 lead with 2:18 to play. Kageyama recorded four points with Paquette and Aurelien scoring two apiece. The Pride ended their drought with a layup at 2:09 to tie it up at 74.
- After both teams came up empty on a possession, Kageyama was off the mark on a three but Burger cleaned up on the offensive glass. Coleman was then fouled on a shot from beyond the arc and went to the line, converting two shots to put Swarthmore in front, 76-74, with 58 seconds left. Widener then failed to score on four straight possessions and was forced to keep sending the Garnet to the stripe. Swarthmore went 5-for-6 at the line to put the game away.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: Paquette 17
Rebounds: Aurelien, Burger 8
Assists: Agoyo, Coleman, Godfrey 2
Steals: Aurelien, Paquette 2
Threes: Hanson 3
UP NEXT
The Garnet (4-2) travel to Misericordia University on December 3.
