COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Swarthmore men's basketball team scripted the last run in a game full of them Wednesday night, as the nationally ranked Garnet scored the last 11 points to escape Helfferich Hall with a 75-67 victory over Ursinus in a showdown of Centennial Conference unbeatens.
Senior captain Matt Knowles blazed the way with 20 points for the Bears, who led the No. 22 Garnet 67-64 with 2:15 to play in a tense, back-and-forth battle. But Ursinus went scoreless the rest of the way, and Zack Yonda's 3-pointer with 50 seconds to play proved the game-winner for Swarthmore (7-0, 4-0), which kept its perfect record alive and took over sole possession of first place in the CC.
While Swarthmore came in sporting a national ranking for the first time in program history, the Bears (5-2, 3-1) proved they belonged from the opening tip in a game played within a five-point margin from the 10:22 mark of the first half until the final 15 seconds. There were 13 ties and 10 lead changes (ten and seven, respectively, in the second half alone), and neither side led by more than three for a 12-minute stretch of the second half until Knowles knocked home four straight free throws to grant Ursinus a 62-58 advantage with 4:36 to go.
The Garnet ran off the next six points to seize the upper hand, but Knowles drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner off a skip pass from junior Brian Rafferty to make it 65-64 at the 3:01 mark. A strong take down the middle of the lane by Rafferty brought a three-point advantage, but the Bears would not score again. Cam Wiley scored inside to cut it to one, and Yonda connected from the left wing to give Swarthmore the lead for good.
Knowles had a runner rattle in and out, and two free throws by Robbie Walsh made it 71-67. After Ursinus misfired on a trey, Matt Brennan got behind the defense for a layup to ice it, and Yonda provided the final margin with a pair of foul shots.
Wiley led all scorers with 21 points in his first career start, while Brennan added 15. Henry Cousineau had 12 and Yonda 11 – all after halftime – for Swarthmore, which overcame 15 turnovers thanks to nine 3-pointers, three each by Wiley and Brennan. The Garnet were just 9 for 28 (32.1 percent) from deep, but Swarthmore held Ursinus – which came in leading the conference in 3-point accuracy – to a 3-for-20 night.
The Bears, who owned a 31-28 edge at halftime, hung in on the glass with the nation's top rebounding team. Swarthmore came in with a margin of 20.0 boards per game, but held just a narrow 45-39 edge against Ursinus, which had seven players with at least three caroms. Freshman Shane Stark snared six, and junior Joseph LoStracco finished with six to go with a season-high 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting; LoStracco is 16 of 17 from the floor over his last four games and has made 15 consecutive field goals.
Ursinus, which leads the CC in scoring and field-goal percentage, shot 36.9 percent against a Garnet squad that came in keeping opponents to a .355 mark, good for 4th in Division III in that category. The Bears, 11th nationally in field-goal defense, limited Swarthmore to 39.0 percent, well below its season average.
Ursinus outperformed Swarthmore in points in the paint (32-24), second-chance points (14-8), and points off turnovers (14-11), but the Garnet hade one extra trick up their sleeve in the closing moments to deny the Bears what would have been just their second victory over a ranked team since 2009.
The men's basketball team continues a four-game home stand against Eastern on Saturday, December 10. Tip is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
