The game was tied, 95-95, in the second overtime with 2:05 to play before the Garnet Tide pulled away for the win. Chris Casey hit a jumper with 1:29 left and Jim Dalton followed by making one-of-two free throws with 43 seconds left and two-of-two free throws with 27 seconds left to give the Garnet a 100-95 lead. Washington senior forward Jeff McMahon made a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to get the Shoremen back with in three at 100-97, but Swarthmore's Jacob Letendre made one-of-two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to seal the win for the Garnet Tide.
The Garnet Tide (4-6 overall, 1-2 Centennial) finished the first half on a 11-2 run to take a 26-23 lead into the break. Washington (3-7, 0-3) opened the second half on a 9-6 spurt to knot the game at 32-32 with 17:09 left, but the Garnet Tide answered with a 17-8 run to open up a 49-40 lead with 12:55 to play on a lay-up by Letendre.
Swarthmore held an eight-point lead, at 71-63, with 1:09 left before the Shoremen came charging back to close within two, at 75-73, on a three-pointer by sophomore guard Dustin Abbate with 19.8 seconds remaining. Swarthmore's Matt Gustafson made a lay-up with 16 seconds left, but Abbate nailed another three-pointer with eight seconds to play to make it 77-76. Jim Dalton converted a pair of free throws with six seconds left in regulation, but WC sophomore forward Jonathan Webb drove to the hoop and converted a lay-up with seven-tenths of a second to play to knot the score at 78-78 and send the game into overtime.
In the first overtime, Swarthmore took an 89-86 lead on a lay-up and free throw by Jeff Maxim with 1:04 to play. Junior guard Andrew Gentile nailed a three for Washington to knot the score at 89-89 with 46 seconds left. Letendre was whistled for a push-off on the next Swarthmore possession and WC junior guard John "China" Alexander converted a put-back with 1.4 seconds to play to to give Washington a 91-89 lead. The Shoremen were then whistled for a foul before the ball was inbounded and Letendre converted two free throws to tie the game at 91-91 and force the second overtime.
Gustafson tallied a career-high 35 points and collected 17 boards for the Garnet Tide. Maxim finished with 28 points on 9-of-12 shooting and 17 rebounds, while Letendre tallied a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.
Webb finished with 27 points, eight rebounds, and five steals for the Shoremen, while Abbate scored a career-high 25 points and canned five three-pointers. Gentile added 16 points, four assists, and seven boards and sophomore guard Kyle Stem scored 10 points and dished out six assists.
Newspaper Box Score Washington College vs Swarthmore 1/7/04 8:00 pm at Swarthmore, PA At Swarthmore, PA SWARTHMORE 101, WASHINGTON COLLEGE 97 WASHINGTON COLLEGE (3-7, 0-3 CC) Jonathan Webb 11-22 4-6 27; Dustin Abbate 8-22 4-6 25; Andrew Gentile 5-16 5-5 16; Kyle Stem 4-9 1-1 10; John Alexander 2-6 4-4 8; David Horvath 3-11 0-0 7; Jeff McMahon 0-2 2-2 2; Buck Howanski 1-2 0-0 2; Drew Hill 0-3 0-0 0; Joe Breslin 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-95 20-24 97. SWARTHMORE (4-6, 1-2 CC) Matthew Gustafson 14-24 3-6 35; Jeff Maxim 9-12 10-13 28; Jacob Letendre 3-8 7-13 13; Jim Dalton 1-3 6-8 8; Chris Loeffler 3-8 1-2 7; Jared Passmore 2-10 2-2 7; Chris Casey 1-2 0-0 2; Dillon McGraw 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 33-70 30-46 101. Washington College............ 23 55 13 6 - 97 Swarthmore.................... 26 52 13 10 - 101 3-point goals-Washington College 9-32 (Dustin Abbate 5-12; David Horvath 1-4; Kyle Stem 1-3; Jonathan Webb 1-4; Andrew Gentile 1-5; Drew Hill 0-2; Buck Howanski 0-1; John Alexander 0-1), Swarthmore 5-20 (Matthew Gustafson 4-8; Jared Passmore 1-4; Jacob Letendre 0-2; Jim Dalton 0-1; Chris Loeffler 0-2; Chris Casey 0-1; Dillon McGraw 0-2). Fouled out--Washington College-Jonathan Webb; David Horvath; Kyle Stem, Swarthmore-Chris Loeffler; Jeff Maxim. Rebounds-Washington College 43 (Jonathan Webb 8), Swarthmore 68 (Matthew Gustafson 17; Jeff Maxim 17). Assists-Washington College 17 (Kyle Stem 6), Swarthmore 22 (Jacob Letendre 10). Total fouls-Washington College 32, Swarthmore 22. A-120