January 17, 2007
Swarthmore Bests Haverford, 51-50
SWARTHMORE, PA – Junior guard Matt Kurman
hit the game-winning jump shot with 11.8 seconds remaining to
pull rival host Swarthmore over visiting Haverford, 51-50, Wednesday
evening in Centennial Conference men’s basketball action.
Senior forward Ray Brown registered a team-high 15 points and
seven rebounds in only 23 minutes in the losing effort for the
Fords.
Swarthmore jumped out to a 16-8 lead eight and a half minutes
into the game on a layup by junior guard Noam Fliegelman. Haverford
sophomore Matt Stitt pulled the Fords back within five points,
16-11, after draining a three-pointer, but an 8-0 run over the
next four minutes extended the Garnet’s lead to 13 points,
24-11, with 6:17 left in the half. Haverford was able to cut its
deficit down to nine points at halftime, 31-22. With Brown picking
up two early fouls, Swarthmore was able to outscore Haverford
by a 14-4 margin in the paint in the half.
Haverford roared back into the game after the halftime break.
The Fords opened the second half with a 9-2 run over the first
5:48 to pull within 33-32. Sophomore guard Greg Rosnick hit a
three-pointer with 13:20 remaining to pull the Fords even with
the Garnet, 35-35. Sophomore forward Ben McDowell hit a three-pointer
to give the Fords their first lead of the game, 40-38, midway
through the second half.
With 2:00 to go, Brown hit a turnaround jumper in the paint to
put the Fords up 50-49. Swarthmore junior Ian McCormick missed
the front end of a one and one to give Haverford the ball back
with 1:20 to play. With the shot clock winding down, senior guard
Mike Fratangelo missed a three-pointer, but followed up his shot
and pulled down the rebound. After Haverford used up the reset
shot clock, McDowell missed a three-pointer. Sophomore forward
Brent Anderson grabbed another offensive rebound for Haverford.
With 24.2 seconds left, Rosnick was fouled but missed the front
end of the one and one. McCormick grabbed the rebound, and with
11.8 seconds left on the clock Kurman nailed the game-winning
jumper, leading Swarthmore to the 51-50 win.
McCormick led all players with 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from
the floor and 12 rebounds. McCormick has now tallied six double-doubles
on the season. Kurman finished the game with 12 points for Swarthmore.
Both teams grabbed 31 rebounds in the game. Haverford committed
only ten turnovers to Swarthmore’s 16. The Fords shot 37.3%
in the game to the Garnet’s 46.3%.
Haverford (6-9 overall, 5-4 Centennial) returns
to action Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. Centennial home game against
Franklin & Marshall. Swarthmore (7-9, 4-5) hosts Ursinus on
Saturday at 4:00 p.m. Box
Score
