The win is McDaniel’s sixth Centennial Conference victory this season, the most conference wins posted by McDaniel going back to the 1997-98 season, and the eighth overall, the most since that same year.
The Green Terror opened with a 14-4 run that saw three different players, including Keeny, nail three pointers. The quick start ensured that Swarthmore would never own a lead in the game. McDaniel appeared posed for a blowout victory holding an 18-point edge at the half having hit 10 of 18 (55.6) of its threes, and 17 of its 33 (51.5) shots from the field.
Swarthmore circled the wagons defensively in the second half limiting McDaniel to seven-of-31 (22.6) shooting from the field. The Terror hit on just one-of-eight treys in the second half. So stout was the Swarthmore defense down the stretch, the Tide held the Terror without a field goal over the final six minutes of regulation.
Meanwhile, Swarthmore’s Steve Wolf worked down low while Matt Kruman worked the perimeter to get Swarthmore back into the game. Swarthmore outscored McDaniel 30-18 in the paint, due in large part to Ian McCormick and Wolf, who finished the game with 15 and 14 points, respectively.
With the Terror unable to score from the field, Swarthmore whittled the lead down to a single point on a Wolf lay-up with 38 seconds to go. Will Talesnick drew a foul with 32 ticks remaining, but was only able to hit on the second of his free throws giving McDaniel a 73-71 lead with 32 seconds remaining.
McCormick looked to work inside on the ensuing possession, but saw his lay-up blocked by Josh McKay with 12 seconds left in the game. McKay grabbed the rebound and took the foul, but missed on both free throws at the other end. Noam Fliegelman pulled down the second errant shot and fed it up the floor where Swarthmore looked for Chris Casey to tie it up, his shot, as well as McCormick’s follow-up, failed to go through letting the Terror hang on for the win.
Keeny was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points. Talesnick finished up with 19 while McKay had a 12-point, 12-rebound effort to go with three blocks and a pair of steals. Mike Dipiero gave McDaniel an additional 10 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Swarthmore got 18 points and 10 rebounds out of Kurman. 12 of his points came in the second half. Wolf finished with 14 points, also scoring 12 in the second half. McCormick had 15 points and 10 rebounds. He was held to a single point in the second half.
With the win, McDaniel improves to 8-13, 6-8, while Swarthmore falls to 4-17, 3-11.
Swarthmore College vs McDaniel 2/4/06 3:00 PM at Westminster, MD - The Gill Center MCDANIEL 73, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE 71 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE (4-17, 3-11) Matt Kurman 7-12 1-1 18; Ian McCormick 4-17 7-13 15; Steve Wolf 7-12 0-2 14; Noam Fliegelman 4-5 0-0 9; Chris Casey 2-6 3-3 7; Jon Tundel 1-2 4-8 6; Mark Rohde 0-1 2-2 2; Michael Bonesteel 0-1 0-0 0; Eric Williams 0-1 0-0 0; Dillon McGrew 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 17-29 71. MCDANIEL (8-13, 6-8) Devin Keeny 6-13 4-4 20; Will Talesnick 5-13 6-8 19; Josh McKay 5-16 0-2 12; Mike Dipiero 3-7 3-4 10; Chris Rutland 2-3 1-3 6; Chad Arrington 2-6 0-0 4; Neal Bumgarner 1-2 0-0 2; Joe Hunter 0-1 0-0 0; Jemar Daniel 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-64 14-21 73. Swarthmore College............ 32 39 - 71 McDaniel...................... 50 23 - 73 3-point goals-Swarthmore College 4-8 (Matt Kurman 3-5; Noam Fliegelman 1-1; Chris Casey 0-1; Dillon McGrew 0-1), McDaniel 11-26 (Devin Keeny 4-8; Will Talesnick 3-7; Josh McKay 2-5; Mike Dipiero 1-3; Chris Rutland 1-2; Joe Hunter 0-1). Fouled out--Swarthmore College-None, McDaniel-Chad Arrington. Rebounds-Swarthmore College 48 (Ian McCormick 10; Matt Kurman 10), McDaniel 39 (Josh McKay 12). Assists-Swarthmore College 5 (Chris Casey 2; Ian McCormick 2), McDaniel 17 (Chris Rutland 7). Total fouls-Swarthmore College 20, McDaniel 27. A-431