Robbie Walsh, Swarthmore
SWARTHMORE, Pa.—No. 25 Swarthmore College Men's Basketball's first ever NCAA Tournament game went down as a win on Friday evening in a once-again packed Tarble Pavilion. The Garnet distanced themselves from the College of Staten Island Dolphins with a 17-4 run to open the game and never looked back en route to an 86-61 triumph. The Garnet will now collide with No. 2 Christopher Newport University at 7 p.m. Saturday in the round of 32.
Four Garnet players scored in double-figures with Robbie Walshleading the balanced attack with 18 points. Walsh, who shot 7-for-9 (77.8 percent), collected his second double-double of the season after pulling down 10 rebounds.
Sam Lebryk was dialed in from 3-point range, sinking of 4-of-4 triples en route to a season-high 16 points. Cam Wiley posted 15 points and five assists, and Zack Yonda registered 13 points.
Swarthmore held Staten Island to success on only a third of their shots, keeping the Dolphins at 23-for-69 from the field. The Dolphins couldn't get it going from 3-point range, hitting just 4-of-18 shots. Swarthmore's interior defense chalked up six blocks with first-year Nate Shafer rejecting three shots to up his team-best block total to 68 this year.
Frank Schettino led the visitors with 20 points on 7-of-23 shooting.
Swarthmore finished 29-for-65 (44.6 percent) from the floor and 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range. From the free-throw line, Swarthmore connected on 19-of-26 attempts (73.1 percent).
The Garnet opened Friday's contest on a 6-0 run in the paint. Through the first six minutes, Swarthmore only allowed two Staten Island field goals. An old-fashioned three-point play for Robbie Walsh with 14:19 to play gave Swarthmore a 17-4 advantage. Swarthmore's lead hovered near double-digits for the remainder of the period, and the Garnet went to the locker room up nine.
Swarthmore really began to turn up the heat with six-and-a-half minutes elapsed in the second half. Walsh corralled an offensive board and put it back up for a layup, giving Swarthmore the 54-38 lead and the start of a 13-2 run. The Dolphins followed a Zac O'Dell layup with a bucket, but then in a wild possession, Swarthmore's Henry Cousineau hustled to win two offensive rebounds and help set up a banked-in 3-pointer from Lebryk. Wiley added a layup and then a pair of free throws to increase the Garnet lead to 23, and then Walsh capped off the run he started with a strong move through the lane for a layup that upped Swarthmore's lead to 65-40.
With two minutes to go, Swarthmore's lead reached 27 points on a 3-pointer by Andrew Kaufman and then maxed out at 28 points (86-58) on a free-throw by Michael Rubayo with 1:43 to play.
Swarthmore's next challenge comes in the form of the No. 2 team in the country. The CNU Captains dispatched the Morrisville State Mustangs 81-45 in the first round on Friday night.