Washington led by as many as 16 points in the first half and held a 43-34 lead at the break. The Shoremen were up, 78-67, with just over six minutes to go in the game before the Garnet (4-20, 3-13) went on a 15-2 run to take an 82-80 lead on a pair of free throws by Ian McCormick with 3:44 remaining.
Washington cut the lead to one when junior forward Joey Breslin made one of two free throws on the next possesion and took the lead back for good on a Breslin lay-up with 3:29 to play which made it 83-82.
Swarthmore trailed, 88-86, with 1:24 to go and had chances to tie the game on its next two possessions, but came up short both times. A missed jumper by Chris Casey with 14 seconds to play resulted in a rebound and pair of free throws by Webb which gave the Shoremen a 90-86 lead. Swarthmore cut the deficit to two on a Matt Kurman lay-up with six seconds remaining, but a full court pass by Webb resulted in a lay-up by freshman guard Tim Kohlrus (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) that sealed the win for the Shoremen.
Webb scored his 1,499th and 1,500th points on a lay-up with 18:26 to go in the second half. Webb, who has now scored 1,513 career points, joins Nick Scallion (2,087 points from 1948-52), Greg Adams (1,793, 1997-2001), Tim Keehan (1,574, 1986-90), and Ben Harris (1,547, 1993-98) in the Shoremen's 1,500-point club. Webb finished with a team-high 22 points and a team-high six rebounds in the game.
Senior guard Kyle Stem added 19 points for Washington, while senior guard Travis Moore scored 15 points and Breslin finished with 12.
Steve Wolf led all scorers with 37 points for Swarthmore. He also grabbed 10 boards in the loss. Chris Casey added 17 points, four assists, and six boards, while McCormick tallied 11 points.
The Shoremen shot 54% from the floor and 8-of-18 from beyond the three-point arc in the victory. Swarthmore shot 46% from the floor and 4-for-12 from long distance.
Washington will host either Haverford or Muhlenberg in Wednesday's first round game, which is slated for a 7:00 p.m. start. That game will mark the Shoremen's first conference playoff game in three years and first home postseason game in six years.
The Shoremen close out their regular season Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. Centennial Conference home game against McDaniel.