November 19, 2011

Coast Guard Edges Men's Basketball in Equinox Finale, 77-74

HAVERFORD, Pa.— The Swarthmore College men's basketball team (0-3) yet again fell in heartbreaking fashion, losing to the United States Coast Guard Academy Bears 77-74 in its final game of the 20th Annual Equinox Classic at Haverford College's Gooding Arena.

The Garnet were led by stalwart efforts by junior Will Gates (27 points and seven boards) sophomore Jay Kober (15 points) and sophomore Jordan Federer (9 points, 5 assists).

For his outstanding effort, Gates was named to the Equinox Classic All-Tournament team for the third-consecutive season. Gates scored 16 of his game-high 27 points in the second half on 5-of-10 shooting.

With the win, Coast Guard finished the Equinox Classic unbeaten. Freshman Ricky Rodriguez led the Bears with 20 points.

Trailing by four in the final minute of play, Federer came up big down the stretch, hitting a three-pointer from what seemed like downtown Philadelphia to put the Garnet within one point (74-73) of the Bears with :16 seconds left to play. After Coast Guard hit just one of two free throws, Federer drew a foul with :10 seconds left and went to line with a chance to tie the game. Unfortunately for Swat, Federer hit the first free throw but missed the second. The Bears corralled the rebound and hit two free throws to earn the 77-74 win.

The first half was dominated by the Garnet, who had the luxury of a seven-point lead going into the second of regulation at 41-34. Gates paced the Garnet with 11 points and Kober contributed nine points. In addition, sophomore Joe Keedy made a strong contribution off the bench with 5 points, including a clutch three point-play off of a power move to the hoop that gave the Garnet the lead going into the half. Rodriguez led the Bears in the first half with 12 points and would come out hot in the second.

At the start of the second half, the Bears immediately closed the gap with Rodriguez scoring a quick eight points in the first five minutes. The Bears leaned heavily on Rodriguez, who scored 15 of his 20 points from 3-point range.

From that point on, the Bears took control of the lead and held it for the entirety of the second half. The Garnet hung around for the remainder of play, never straying from with five points of striking distance, and even tying the game multiple times. Down the stretch, it was Kober and Gates carrying the team, sinking foul shots and capitalizing on drives to the basket.

Swarthmore returns to action on Tuesday with its Centennial Conference opener against Dickinson from Tarble Pavilion. Action is slated to begin at 8:00 p.m.