February 18, 2009
Garnet Ground Shoremen, 48-47
Green Paces Shoremen with 12 Points

SWARTHMORE, PA – Host Swarthmore College held on for a 48-47 Centennial Conference men's basketball victory over visiting Washington College tonight in Swarthmore, PA. The Garnet improved to 3-20 overall and 2-15 in conference play with the win, while the Shoremen fell to 11-13 and 8-9 with the loss.

Swarthmore held a 21-12 lead with under four minutes to play in the first half before the Shoremen ended the period on a 10-2 run to trim the lead to 23-22 by halftime. The Shoremen took their first lead since 3-0 when freshman forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) scored on the first possession of the second half to make it 24-23. The two teams exchanged leads, with neither building a margin of more than two points until Matt Allen converted a pair of free throws with 11:39 remaining and Raul Ordonez converted a lay-up with 11:02 left to give the Garnet a 35-29 advantage.

Washington responded by scoring the next seven points, capped off by a jumper from senior guard Tim Kohlrus (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) with 7:23 to play which gave the Shoremen a 36-35 lead. Danny Walker sank two free throws on the other end with 6:54 to go to put the Garnet back in front, 37-36, and a bucket by Ryan Carmichael 30 seconds later extended the lead to 39-36. A lay-up and free throw by WC junior guard Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) with 6:04 to play knotted the score at 39-39.

An Ordonez lay-up with 5:42 on the clock put the Garnet back in front, 41-39, and one free throw by Walker with 4:34 left gave Swarthmore a three-point lead at 42-39. Washington senior guard Todd Green (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) knocked down a jumper with 2:21 left to cut the lead to 42-41, but a jumper by Matt Allen with 1:58 remaining and a free throw by Walker with 1:40 left gave the Garnet a four-point cushion at 45-41.

Kohlrus went to the line for a one-and-one with 42.6 seconds on the clock, but came up empty on the front end as Ordonez grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Ordonez missed the front end of his one-and-one, but Washington came up short on the next possession. Allen went to the line for Swarthmore with 29.2 seconds left and made the second of two free throws to push the lead to 46-41. Kohlrus drained a three-pointer with 22.9 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 46-44. Swarthmore then turned the ball over with an offensive foul during the ensuing in-bounds to give Washington the ball back with 20.6 seconds left. A missed jumper and failed put-back by the Shoremen gave Swarthmore the ball back, sending Allen to the line for two free throws with 8.3 seconds to go. Allen made both shots to seal the win for the Garnet. Junior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) hit a three-pointer at the buzzer for Washington to provide the final margin.

Ordonez paced the Garnet with 14 points and nine rebounds, while Allen finished with 12 points.

Green led Washington with 12 points, while Chambers added 11 points and eight rebounds.

Swarthmore held Washington to 29.8% shooting in the game, including a 10-for-39 mark from two-point range.

The Shoremen will finish the 2008-09 regular season Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. Centennial Conference home game against Johns Hopkins.

BOX SCORE