SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College men's basketball team outlasted Johns Hopkins University, 89-87, in another classic between the two Centennial powerhouses on Saturday night. The Garnet have won the past three contests against Johns Hopkins, including the 2023-24 Centennial Championship game.
After leading for the entire opening half, the Garnet found themselves in an all-out battle, which featured six late lead changes and three ties. Freshman guard Zander Jimenez put the Garnet ahead for good on a game-winning layup with 40 seconds remaining in regulation.
Eddie Paquette led the way with a tough performance. The junior went for 19 points with five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while shooting 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
Nyle Coleman, Devin Burger, Cal Hanson and Jimenez also scored in double figures. Coleman and Burger tallied a dozen points, while Hanson scored 11 and Jimenez contributed 10 points off the bench.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Garnet got off to the best possible start with a 17-3 run to stun the Blue Jays. Swarthmore scored the opening seven points, before Hopkins hit a three-pointer for their only bucket of the opening six minutes. Hanson, Burger and Jonathan Stump all connected from long range to kick start a dominant opening for Swarthmore.
- The Blue Jays caught fire from beyond the arc with a trio of three-pointers in the span of one minute. However, the Garnet maintained pace with threes from Burger and Hanson to take a 12-point lead, 23-11.
- Hopkins began to capture momentum with a 15-2 stretch to shrink its deficit to seven points with 4:02 left. Following a Nyle Coleman layup, Stump knocked down a triple to give his team extra breathing room, 41-29. The Blue Jays then closed the half on an 8-1 run in the final two minutes of action. Hopkins shrunk its deficit to five after trailing by as many as 20 points, 42-37.
- The Blue Jays scored the first four points of the second half to pull within one. Burger then added five-unanswered to put his team ahead by six points with 17:40 left. Hopkins eventually found themselves in front after a 12-2 run propelled them to a one-point lead. Brady Kageyama then put Swarthmore ahead with a bucket, while Hanson connected on another three-pointer to take a five-point lead, 60-56.
- After Hopkins pulled within two points, Paquette bullied his way to a bucket for a hard-earned, three-point play to preserve the team's four-point lead. Following back-to-back Hopkins buckets, Coleman cooled down the visitors with a driving layup, 73-70.
- Following a Hopkins turnover, Swarthmore took full advantage with a bucket from Caleb Aurelien to go ahead by six points with 6:12 left. Moments later, Paquette drove to the lane for another three-point opportunity. The junior missed his ensuing free throw attempt, but Swarthmore battled for the rebound, which led to another Paquette basket, 80-72.
- Swarthmore's toughness was on full display with another hard-earned, three-point opportunity from Coleman. The sophomore absorbed heavy contact on his way to a driving layup. However, the Blue Jays responded with six-unanswered to pull within a point with 2:54 left.
- The Blue Jays regained the lead with 2:07 remaining as they rallied for their eighth-unanswered point. Paquette then knocked down a pair of free throws at the other end to put Swarthmore back ahead, 84.83.
- The back-and-forth battle continued as Hopkins used a three-point opportunity to pull ahead. After clawing within one point on the made bucket, the Blue Jays earned three offensive rebounds and another trip to the foul line to take a one-point lead with 1:00 left.
- Following a timeout, Jimenez drove to the lane for a tough two points to reclaim a late lead for Swarthmore. Burger then protected his team's lead at the other end with a big-time block. The Blue Jays were unable to generate a quality attempt off their ensuing inbounds play. Burger then controlled the rebound and split at the free throw line to take a two-point lead with 7.8 seconds left, 89-87.
- Down to their final possession, the Blue Jays were once again turned away by the Garnet defense. Hopkins inbounded the ball, drove to the lane, but were unable to send the game to overtime.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: Paquette 19
Rebounds: Hanson, Aurelien, Stump 5
Assists: Paquette, Hanson 3
Blocks: Aurelien 2
Steals: Paquette 2
UP NEXT
The Garnet (5-3) host Farmingdale State College on Thursday before heading on a two-week break for the holidays.
