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BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published February 1, 2007

Two wins, two big wins. That’s what the men’s basketball team got this week while playing a schedule that from this point on contains only conference opponents. The Garnet defeated both Dickinson College (66-60) and Washington College (83-78) this week. Unfortunately, the team lost to Johns Hopkins last night, 63-59, bringing their conference record to 6-7 and overall record to 9-11.

“At this point we control our own destiny. All we need to do is win the games we should win and we can make the playoffs,” forward Steve Wolf ’08 said.

This season shows a remarkable rebirth from last year, when the team was only able to secure five wins in the entire season. The Garnet had previously fallen to the Dickinson Red Devils by six points earlier in the season, which shows that the Garnet have been able to learn from their mistakes and adapt as a team.

“The parity in the league this year is so unbelievable … almost every one of our games have been four points or less,” head coach Lee Wimberly said.

Wolf kept himself hot against the Red Devils, scoring 21 points while first-year forward Matt Turner ‘10 churned out a career-high 16 points. This dynamic duo combined for 17 of the Garnet’s 20 points in the first half, along with help from rock-solid forward/center Ian McCormick ’08. McCormick locked down his eighth double-double, which ranks first in the Centennial Conference this season.

Senior captain Chris Casey ’07 was generous with the ball, adding five assists against Dickinson to pull him to fourth on the all-time school list with 236. This puts him only three behind the next-highest Garnet player. Turner also managed to add to his school record for taking charges, eating the hardwood for the twentieth time this season.

This game was dominated by the Garnet big men; McCormick, Turner and Wolf accounted for all but 13 of the Garnet’s total points in the contest. The Garnet was also awarded 30 trips to the charity stripe in the second half, managing to convert over half of their opportunities.

The game against Washington College could be considered the Ian McCormick Show. The junior set career highs in both categories with 29 points and 19 rebounds. Matt Kurman ’08 also converted a handy 17 points in the 83-78 win. The first half was a high-scoring affair, though the Garnet were able to take the better half of a 47-38 lead going into halftime. Turner again chipped in double digits with 10 points as Casey assisted six balls to allow the Garnet to secure the victory, essential as the season begins to draw to a close.

The Garnet has five more important games in the regular season, all against conference foes.

“The most important thing is to protect our home court. Basically, we need to make our free throws and continue playing like we have been,” McCormick said.

For his strong play in these two games, McCormick was named Centennial Conference Player of the Week on Monday.

Of the five remaining opponents, the Garnet has beaten three and fallen to two in past games, both of which were lost by four points or less. The Garnet will need to overcome their demons and beat these teams the second time around, much like they did last week against the Red Devils.

“The question is, are we going to step up in these games? For us to win four out of our last six, I think we can do it,” Wimberly said before the team’s game last night.

Last night, the Garnet played host to Johns Hopkins, who are ranked 22nd in the country. Though Swarthmore led for most of the game, the Blue Jays pulled out the 63-59 victory in the end. McCormick led the Garnet with 20 points, while Wolf chipped in 16.

Swarthmore will continue to face their Centennial conference foes on Saturday, when the team hosts McDaniel College at 4 p.m.

Johns Hopkins 63
Swarthmore 59

Dickinson 60
Swarthmore 66

Swarthmore 83
Washington 78

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