The Basics
• Score: #6 Swarthmore-79, Johns Hopkins-61
• Records: JHU (18-9) • SC (24-3)
• Location: Swarthmore, PA • Tarble Pavilion
• The Short Story: In a rematch of last year's Centennial Conference Championship, in the same gym, it was the sixth-ranked Swarthmore Garnet that came out on top this time. The host Garnet beat the Johns Hopkins men's basketball team, 79-61, on Saturday afternoon in the conference title game.
 
How it Happened
• Swarthmore raced out to a 10-point lead on the strength of three three-pointers from Conor Harkins, George Viconti and Zac O'Dell. A Daniel Vila dunk and a Braeden Johnson triple sparked a 9-3 spurt that trimmed the deficit to four with 14:02 to play in the first half.
• The lead seesawed up and down over the ensuing three and a half minutes and the Blue Jays were within three at the 10:29-mark after a Johnson three-pointer. The Garnet answered with back-to-back threes from Visconti and Harkins and just like that the lead was nine. Senior Joey Fitzpatrick cut it back to seven with a bucket in the paint, but another Harkins three-pointer and an O'Dell dunk gave Swarthmore a 33-21 lead with 5:14 to go in the half.
• Vila hit one of two free throws, followed by a Michael Gardner fast-break layup and it was a nine-point game. Visconti responded with a layup to ignite a 13-2 run that spanned the final four minutes and gave Swarthmore a 46-26 lead at the break.
• Coming out of the half, Swarthmore twice pushed its lead to as much as 22 before Hopkins battled back. Trailing 60-38 at the 10:09-mark, sophomore Joey Kern and junior Harry O'Neil drained back-to-back three-pointers to kick-start a 16-4 run that saw the lead cut to just 10 with 5:36 to play. Five different players scored for the Blue Jays during the run, which was fueled by a trio of three-pointers.
• The Garnet ended the run and quickly pushed its lead back to 17 with seven unanswered points. That would do it was the Blue Jays could get no closer than 15 over the final three minutes and 15 seconds.
 
What it Means
• Hopkins falls to 79-40 all-time against Swarthmore with the Garnet winning the last two meetings.
• The Blue Jays are now 15-14 all-time in the Centennial Conference Tournament, including 4-7 in the championship game.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Vila led the Blue Jays with a career-high 19 points, going 6-of-9 from the field, to go with six boards and three blocks. He now has 131 career blocks, which ties him with Matt Billups for third in school history. He also ranks 17^th with 89 career steals.
• Gardner chipped in nine points, to go with six assists, and ranks 12^th in program history with 1126 points. In addition, he ranks in the top-20 at JHU in field goals (16^th • 395), three-pointers (4^th • 194), defensive rebounds (16^th • 299), assists (14^th • 215), games played (12^th • 104) and minutes (10^th • 2671).
• O'Neil and Johnson finished with 10 points each, while Kern had a game-high seven rebounds.
• Cam Wiley led all scorers with 27 points and was named the tournament MVP. Visconti added 14, nine of those coming in the first half, and Harkins added 13, though he was held to just two in the second half. O'Dell added 12 points while Shafer had a team-best seven boards.