December 8, 2010
Clutch Free-Throw Shooting Leads Washington College Past Men's Basketball, 74-64
SWARTHMORE,Pa. - Thanks to a career-high 23 points on 5-of-7 shooting from behind the arc from Charlie McShane and some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch, visiting Washington College (4-3, 3-1) was able to break open a close game in the second half to defeat the Swarthmore College men's basketball team 74-64 on Wednesday evening from Tarble Pavilion.
Sophomore Will Gates led the Garnet (4-5, 1-3) with 18 points and nine rebounds while freshman Jordan Federer and sophomore Jordan Martinez each reached double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively.
Reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week Kevin Breslin scored 15 - 11 in the second half - to help the Shoremen pull away from Swat in the second half.
Ahead 58-52 with 3:59 remaining in the game, Washington sealed the game from the free-throw line. Following a missed free-throw from McShane, the Shoremen proceeded to sink their final 12 attempts of the game, including eight consecutive from Dylan Berstein in the game's final two minutes.
Swarthmore found itself in an early hole, as the Shoremen scored the game's first eight points, taking a 8-0 lead following a layup from McShane at the 17:15 mark.
The Garnet eventually shook off the early struggles, getting back into the game following a 9-2 run, cutting the lead 13-10 with a Martinez jumper with 13:52 left in the first.
Now back in the game, the Garnet's defense came to life, throwing the Shoremen's offense out of rhythm and putting the Garnet out in front. By constantly switching between man-to-man and zone defense, the Garnet confused and frustrated the Shoremen's offense, keeping Washington off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes. A pair of free-throws by Gates gave Swarthmore its first lead of the game at 21-20 with 7:43 to play.
The game would remain within one possession for the remainder of the half until another McShane three put the Shoremen ahead 31-26 with 1:54 left. A Gates' layup with 1:28 put the Garnet within three at 31-28 heading into halftime.
In the second half, Swarthmore hung with the Shoremen until the the final minute but ultimately fell short in its attempt to pull off another comeback.
Washington began to extend the lead midway through the second half. Starting at the 13:21 mark, the Shoremen outscored the Garnet 10-3 over the next three minutes, as a McShane jumper gave Washington a 54-42 lead with 10:36 remaining in the game.
Swarthmore would chip at the lead from there, as baskets from Gates cut the lead to six points on two separate occasions with under five minutes to play in the game, but the Shoremen's prolific free-throw shooting proved to be too much to overcome.
Senior captain Ryan Carmichael finished with nine points and seven rebounds, while freshman Joe Keedy added eight points.
The Garnet struggled shooting the ball in the second half, hitting just 29 percent of its shots compared to 47.6 percent in the first.
Swarthmore finished with a 40-34 edge on the glass.
For the game, Washington finished the 21-of-27 from the foul line.
Following the holiday break, Swarthmore returns to action on January 2 against MCLA in the NYU New Year's Classic.
