January 21, 2009
Washington Pulls Away From Swarthmore, 90-71
Schittino Nets 14 of Career-Best 17 Points After Intermission

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Freshman guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) scored 14 straight points for the hosts in a span of 77 seconds in the second half and had a career-high 17 points as Washington College downed visiting Swarthmore, 90-71, on Wednesday evening at the Cain Athletic Center. The Shoremen improve to 6-9 overall and 3-5 in the Centennial, while the Garnet are 1-13 and 0-8 respectively.

With Washington clinging to a 55-52 lead with 8:46 to go in the second half following 14-4 run by Swarthmore when junior guard Tim Kohlrus (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) stole a Garnet pass and raced down the court for a fast-break layup to make it 57-52. The Shoremen led 62-56 when Schittino took over. Schittino canned a jumper with 6:33 remaining to make it 64-56. After a Swarthmore miss, Schittino received a pass from freshman Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) and canned a three-pointer to make it 67-56 at the 6:09 mark. Following two Swarthmore free throws, Schittino connected on another triple from Kohlrus to make it 70-58 with 5:40 left. After a miss by the Garnet, Schittino capped his 14 points in 77 ticks when he nailed a three from left side and was fouled. He then stepped to the charity stripe and netted the free throw to cap the run and give the hosts a 74-58 lead with 5:16 left. Swarthmore would get as close as 14 the rest of the way on three occasions, but could not inch any closer.

In the first half, the two teams were tied 22-22 with 6:49 left when the Shoremen scored six consecutive points to take a 28-22 lead and would never relinquish the lead. The Garnet would cut the lead to 31-28 on a jumper by Sam Lacy with 3:07 to go in the first. Washington led by as many as seven in the opening half at 36-29 following a three-pointer by Schittino with 2:29 left in the first and took a 38-33 lead into the locker room.

Washington opened the second half on a 13-5 run to take a 51-38 lead, which was capped by fast-break layup by junior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) with 15:38 to go in the game. Swarthmore would answer to cut the Shoremen lead to 55-52 with a 14-4 run of its own. Andrew Greenblatt's jumper in the paint trimmed the lead to 55-52 with 10:09 left before Washington closed out the Garnet with a game-closing 35-19 run.

Kines led all players with 20 points, while Kohlrus contributed 16 points and had a game-bests of five assists and five steals on the evening. Junior forward James Whall (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) led all players with three blocks and tied Breslin for tops on the squad in rebounds with six.

Raul Ordonez tallied a double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds and tied Matt Allen for the team lead in points with 17. Ordonez also swatted away two shots for the guests. Ryan Carmichael added 13 points, while Lacy chipped in with 12 points. Lacy was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field and knocked down both free throws.

Washington shot 52% for the game, including 57% in the final 20 minutes, while Swarthmore shot 46% for the contests. The Garnet edged the Shoremen in three-point percentage 44% to 41%. The Shoremen outscored the Garnet in the paint, 44-42, on points off turnovers, 25-16, bench points, 39-10, and fast-break points, 17-0. Swarthmore netted 17 second chance points, to 16 for Washington. The hosts edged the visitors on the boards by a 37-33 margin. Swarthmore committed 22 turnovers, to just 15 for Washington.

The Shoremen, who eclipsed their win total of a year ago with tonight's win, continue their four-game homsteand on Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. game versus Muhlenberg in Centennial action.

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