CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Swarthmore College men's basketball team erased an eight-point halftime deficit and held on late for a tight 71-68 win at Washington College on Wednesday night.
The two sides traded momentum in the first half. The Shoremen got out to a 21-9 lead before the Garnet rallied to even it up at 25. Washington came back to seize control again and led 38-30 at the break. Swarthmore outscored the Shoremen, 24-11, over the first 12-plus minutes of the second period to go in front and the Garnet led the rest of the way, fending off Washington down the stretch and surviving a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer.
Zander Jimenez had his best performance of the season, pouring in 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting and grabbing eight rebounds. He scored 17 points in the second half, missing just one field goal attempt, to lead the Swarthmore comeback.
Eddie Paquette threatened a triple-double, finishing with nine points, nine rebounds, and eight assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Washington controlled the opening 10 minutes of the contest, jumping out to a 21-9 advantage with 10:24 on the clock. The Shoremen were 8-for-14 from the field as the Garnet struggled to find their shooting touch, going just 1-of-7 from beyond the arc.
- Swarthmore bounced back in the middle of the period, scoring 16 of the next 20 to tie the score at 25 at the 4:36 mark. The Garnet shot 7-of-12 during the run with six players providing points. The Swarthmore defense held Washington to 1-of-5 from the floor.
- The Shoremen responded with a 13-2 surge to regain the lead, 38-27, with 1:28 left in the half. The home squad made three of its four three-point attempts, and were 5-for-7 overall, while limiting the Garnet to 1-of-7 shooting. Jimenez ended the period with a three-point play and Swarthmore trailed 38-30 at the intermission.
- The Garnet came out strong to start the second, posting the first 10 points to take a 40-38 lead. Jimenez tallied seven points and Paquette added a three. The teams went back and forth for the next four-plus minutes and Washington had a 49-48 edge with 12:40 remaining. Jimenez hit a jumper and Paquette followed with four points to put Swarthmore in front again, 54-49, with 7:41 to play.
- The Shoremen tried to level for several minutes, getting within one possession multiple times, but the Garnet always had an answer to remain ahead. Jimenez registered eight points in a 10-point stretch for Swarthmore, drilling a three to make the score 64-60 with 3:01 to go. The two sides traded layups and the difference remained four (66-62) with 2:23 left.
- Washington made a pair of free throws to get within two (66-64) but
Devin Burger responded with a massive three for the Garnet with 1:46 on the clock. After two more Shoremen foul shots,
Nyle Coleman made a layup to restore a five-point cushion (71-66) with 1:08 remaining. After a scoreless possession by each team, Washington converted two at the line once more to make it a three-point game with 42 seconds to play. Swarthmore had a chance to ice the game but the Shoremen defense forced a shot clock violation to give Washington an opportunity to tie. Coleman played relentless defense on the final possession, quickly picking up the Shoremen shooter and contesting the shot as the prayer missed the mark to give the Garnet the victory.
GARNET LEADERS
Points: Jimenez 28
Rebounds: Paquette 9
Assists: Paquette 8
Steals: Four players 1
Blocks:
Caleb Aurelien 2
Threes: Jimenez 2
UP NEXT
Swarthmore (10-6, 4-0 Centennial) returns home to take on Gettysburg College on Saturday.
