SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Swarthmore College men's basketball team dominated the second half to earn an 80-65 victory over Ursinus College in the first round of the Centennial Conference Tournament on Wednesday night.
The fourth-seeded Garnet advance to the semifinals, where they will visit the top seed, Gettysburg College, on Friday night at 6 p.m.
Swarthmore got off to a slow start but found a rhythm late in the half to take a 28-26 lead at the break. The Garnet then outscored the Bears, 52-39, and shot 58.1% in the final 20 minutes to take the win.
Vinny DeAngelo and
Eddie Paquette sparked Swarthmore with 21 points apiece. Paquette was 8-for-10 from the floor and also grabbed seven rebounds.
Cal Hanson went 5-for-10, including 3-for-6 from beyond the arc, and finished with 14 points.
Michael Caprise contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Garnet had an early 9-8 edge before Ursinus took over with a 10-1 run. The Bears shot 4-of-6 during the stretch while Swarthmore was 0-for-4 with three turnovers. Ursinus had an 18-10 advantage at the 9:22 mark, its largest lead of the night.
- The Garnet countered with a 14-3 surge over the next four-plus minutes to go in front 24-21 with 4:58 to go. Swarthmore made six of its seven field goal attempts while holding the Bears to just 1-of-8 from the floor. Six different Garnet players scored during the sequence. The margin was two (28-26) at halftime.
- Swarthmore got off to a strong start in the second half, netting 11 of the first 13 points to increase its lead to 11 (39-28) with 17:30 on the clock. The Garnet drilled a trio of threes, one each by DeAngelo, Paquette, and Hanson.
- Ursinus chipped away at the deficit and got within three (51-48) at the 9:33 mark. The score was 53-50 when Swarthmore got hot again, scoring 10 of 12 to up the difference to 11 (63-52) with 7:07 to play. Hanson and Paquette combined to go a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor with Hanson sinking a pair of threes.
- The Garnet kept the Bears at arm's length the rest of the way as the margin never dipped below nine. Swarthmore poured it on in the last three minutes and led by as many as 17 in the closing moments.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: DeAngelo, Paquette 21
Rebounds: Caprise 9
Assists: DeAngelo 4
Threes: Hanson, DeAngelo 3
UP NEXT
The Garnet (18-8) aim to get through Gettysburg on Friday and return to the Centennial Championship Game.
