SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Swarthmore College men's basketball team gutted out a crucial conference victory, 78-71, over Ursinus College on Wednesday night. Both teams are now even in the Centennial Conference standings with a 4-2 record. 

Zander Jimenez and Caleb Aurelien led the way with stellar offensive performances. Jimenez paced the Garnet with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Aurelien tallied a career-high 15 points and seven rebounds. Eddie Paquette and Brady Kageyama also scored in double figures with 12 and 11, respectively. 

The Garnet outlasted Ursinus in a close finish. With the game tied entering the final minute, Kageyama put away the Bears with a game-winning three with 42-seconds remaining. Swarthmore's defense then forced an Ursinus turnover on the ensuing possession, before icing the game with free throws. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Aurelien opened the game with the team's first seven points, before Cal Hanson drained a triple to give the Garnet a 10-5 lead. Aurelien hit his first two layups and then knocked down a wide open three-pointer. 

- Following a pair of buckets from Jimenez, Aidan Godfrey hit from long range and then followed up with a big-time block at the other end of the court. Aurelien connected on two more deep balls to give the Garnet a double-digit lead, 25-13. 

- Ursinus climbed back into the game with six-straight points to cut its deficit to six at the midway point of the first. Nyle Coleman then brought their lead back to double digits with a three-pointer followed by an acrobatic layup at the 8:01 mark, 32-21. 

- After Swarthmore took its largest lead of the half, the Bears began to find their rhythm with five-unanswered points. Ursinus closed the final six minutes on a 13-6 run to cut their halftime deficit to six points. 

- Aurelien surpassed his career-high point total with 13 points in the opening half. The sophomore shot 5-of-6 from the field with a career-high two three-pointers in 13 minutes of action. He led both teams in scoring at the half. 

- The Bears pulled within a bucket after consecutive layups trimmed their deficit to two points. Ursinus then tied the game on a pair of free throws, before taking its first lead since the opening minutes at the 10:45 mark.  

- Jimenez took back the lead with consecutive layups. The first-year muscled a path to the first bucket, while finessing his way to a go-ahead score with a beautiful euro step. Paquette then cashed in a pair of free throws to put Swarthmore ahead by four, 61-57. 

- Paquette danced his way to back-to-back layups to provide the Garnet with some breathing room at the 4:54 mark, 67-62. The junior navigated through traffic for a contested bucket, before grabbing a rebound and going coast-to-coast with a well-timed floater on the following possession. Swarthmore held the Bears scoreless for over three minutes as they built its lead to seven points.  

- The Bears scored six-unanswered points to make it a one-point game with 1:44 left, 69-68. In need of a bucket, Hanson put Swarthmore ahead by three points with a reverse layup. Ursinus then buried a three at the other end to tie the game with a minute left, 71-71. 

- Coming out of a timeout, Kageyama hit a step-back three off a screen from Godfrey to put Swarthmore back in front. The Garnet then forced a turnover at the other end to spoil a pivotal Bears possession, 74-71. Paquette then sealed a victory at the free throw line to cap off a gritty conference win. 

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GARNET LEADERS
Points: Jimenez 19
Rebounds: Jimenez 8
Assists: Kageyama 5
Steals: Jimenez 3

UP NEXT
The Garnet (12-6, 4-2) wrap up their two-game homestand against Muhlenberg College on Saturday.