SWARTHMORE, Pa.—An eight-point halftime lead for No. 15 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball blossomed into a 23-point lead in the second half of Thursday night's 67-53 victory over the Dickinson College Red Devils. Swarthmore's win streak extended to eight games as the Garnet improved to 12-2 overall and 5-2 in Centennial Conference action. Swarthmore entered the game tied with Dickinson (6-8, 4-3 Centennial) in the conference standings, and is now tied for second with Muhlenberg and is a game behind Johns Hopkins.
The Garnet held the visiting Red Devils to just 34.6 percent shooting on the night and didn't allow a single player to score more than eight points.
Nate Shafer solidified Swarthmore's defense effort with four blocks, and
Zac O'Dell added a pair of rejections.
Swarthmore's well-balanced attack had four players in double digits.
Conor Harkins led the way with 13 points and finished with a double-double after collecting 10 rebounds. The double-double is his second of the season; he had the same total, 13 points and 10 rebounds, against Middlebury on Dec. 30.
Colin Shaw netted 11 points, and both
Zac O'Dell and
Justin Tucker scored 10, a career high for the freshman Tucker.
Both teams entered halftime with 19 rebounds, but Swarthmore dominated the glass in the second half to finish the game with 39 boards to Dickinson's 30. O'Dell himself collected three offensive rebounds on a single possession five minutes into the second half.
The lead teetered back and forth in the first half and Swarthmore's lead held at two points with 2:26 remaining. A quick 5-0 burst gave Swarthmore some padding and a nice take to the basket for two by
Cam Wiley with five seconds left gave Swarthmore the eight-point edge by halftime.
Two minutes into the second half, Swarthmore darted out on a 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead. A triple by
Justin Tucker, his second of the half, with 7:19 remaining put Swarthmore ahead 59-38. O'Dell added a layup on the next possession to give Swarthmore its biggest lead of the game at 61-38.
Swarthmore hits the road on Saturday for a 2 p.m. game at McDaniel College.
