SWARTHMORE, Pa.—No. 6 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season, knocking out the Mitchell College Mariners 90-73 on Friday night.
Everything seemed to go in for the Garnet, including an off-balance shot by
Ryan Ingram from near
half court to beat the buzzer before halftime.
The Garnet shot well-above their season average of 47.9 percent from the floor with their fourth-best field goal percentage in a game this year, 55.7 percent. Their 55.2 percent from behind the 3-point line was their most effective rate this season and well above the season average of 37.6 percent.
With baskets coming easy for the Garnet, five players reached double digits in scoring. Sophomore sniper
Conor Harkins knocked down four 3-pointers to score a game-high 20 points while shooting 7-for-11 from the floor.
Zac O'Dell and freshman
George Visconti cached pitched in 17 points. O'Dell went 7-for-11 from the floor (63.6 percent) while securing 13 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. He was a nightmare on defense, blocking five shots. He also registered four assists and had a steal for a well-rounded box score. Visconti shot 7-for-12 from the floor and 3-of-6 from long-range en route to his 17 points.
Nate Shafer had two electric slam dunks and posted 14 points on 6-of-9 attempts from the floor while corralling six rebounds. He was menacing on defense as well, blocking four shots.
Cam Wiley posted 13 points and flirted with a double-double after dealing out eight assists.
Ingram went 3-for-4 from 3-point range, including the half-court shot, to finish with nine points.
Mitchell, led by 19 points and 13 rebounds from center Domenico Santiago, gave the Garnet a challenge early. The Mariners went ahead by one on a 3-pointer with 12:47 left in the first half and led by two with 9:44 left in the period.
Swarthmore then held the Mariners without a bucket for five minutes. The Garnet went on a 9-0 run in the meantime to get some separation. Mitchell pulled within three points with 1:25 left in the period, but the Garnet closed out the half on a high note. Wiley knocked down a triple with 1:13 to play to spark a quick 8-0 burst to end the half. After a pair of Shafer free throws, Mitchell missed a 3-pointer on their end.
Abass Sallah got the rebound and Swarthmore tried to get one last shot off before the buzzer. The ball got away and the chance seemed botched, but Ingram recovered, leaned into his shot and banked it home in time, sending the Garnet to the locker room up 47-36.
Mitchell kept the game from getting too far out of hand and stayed within 20 points of the Garnet the rest of the way.
A steal by Wiley that led to his fastbreak layup put Swarthmore up by 19 with 1:40 to play and was the nail in the coffin.
The Garnet, now 25-3 on the season, collide with No. 12 MIT on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the NCAA's second round. MIT advanced earlier on Friday night with a 90-67 win over Skidmore.
