GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Swarthmore College men's basketball team is returning to the Centennial Conference Championship Game for the eighth season in a row after topping the tournament's top seed, Gettysburg College, by an 84-72 score in the semifinals on Friday evening.
The fourth-seeded Garnet will battle second-seeded Johns Hopkins University for the title in Baltimore on Sunday. Swarthmore has made the conference final in every season it has played since 2016 and has faced Johns Hopkins in the last six of those title game appearances.
The Garnet found themselves down 9-2 early on but started to find a rhythm after a timeout, taking their first lead at the 8:15 mark of the first half. Swarthmore remained in front the rest of the way.
Vinny DeAngelo posted his third straight 20-point performance with 23 on the night.
Eddie Paquette and
Michael Caprise both recorded a double-double for the Garnet. Paquette tallied 16 points and 12 rebounds while Caprise registered 15 points and 14 boards.
Brady Kageyama added a career-high 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Bullets netted nine of the first 11 points over the first five minutes. Gettysburg shot 4-of-6 while Swarthmore was just 1-for-4 with two turnovers. The difference was still seven (11-4) when the Garnet reeled off seven of eight to close the gap to one (12-11) with 11:25 on the clock.
- After two baskets put the Bullets up five (16-11), Swarthmore surged with 11 consecutive points to take a 22-16 advantage with 6:15 to go. Five different players contributed points during the run as the Garnet went 4-for-7 from the field with a pair of three-pointers. Defensively, Swarthmore limited Gettysburg to 0-for-5 shooting with a pair of turnovers.
- The Bullets cut the deficit to three (27-24) with 3:53 before halftime but the Garnet responded with a 9-1 stretch to increase the margin to 11 (36-25). Swarthmore took an eight-point cushion (38-30) into the locker room.
- Gettysburg opened the second half with five straight points to close the gap to three (38-35) but the Garnet came back with eight of the next 10 to restore a nine-point lead (46-37). Paquette totaled five of the eight points with
Nyle Coleman scoring three. The Bullets strung together five points before DeAngelo and Kageyama each drilled a three to get the margin back to double digits (52-42) with 10:56 to play.
- Swarthmore had its largest lead of the night (61-47) with 7:52 left. Gettysburg cut the deficit in half (63-56) with a 9-2 spurt that ended at the 5:09 mark. However, the Garnet answered with seven of the next nine to bring the advantage back to 12 (70-58). The Bullets were within seven again (76-69) with 1:12 remaining but Swarthmore was able to close out the win at the line, going a perfect 6-for-6 down the stretch.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: DeAngelo 23
Rebounds: Caprise 14
Assists: Paquette 3
Threes: DeAngelo 3
UP NEXT
The Garnet (19-8), winners of eight straight, look to repeat as Centennial Conference Champions on Sunday.
