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BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published February 8, 2007

The men’s basketball team kept their playoff hopes alive by securing another late season win against McDaniel on Saturday. The Garnet (10-11, 7-7 CC) now brings itself one step closer to grabbing a playoff berth after contending with the loss against conference leader Johns Hopkins last week.

Playing with some serious fire after a four-point loss to Johns Hopkins on Jan. 31, the Garnet went into Saturday’s matchup treating the game as a must-win situation.

“Two [more] wins and we’ll probably be in the playoffs.” forward Ian McCormick ‘08 said. "We just want to put ourselves in a position to take the third seed in the playoffs. Muhlenberg is a tough place to play, but we can’t go to sleep on them."

The Green Terror was able to open up the game with a 14-8 lead over the Garnet, due largely to some superior play off the bench. However, McDaniel could not hold the lead for the entire half as guard Matt Allen ’10 dished to an open Raul Ordonez ’09 under the hoop to give the Garnet its first lead with the score of 24-23.

The remaining five minutes of the half saw the lead see-saw several times before Ordonez was able to spread the wealth back to Allen, who sniped one of his patented long balls to give the Garnet a four-point lead going into the half. Aside from Ordonez and Allen, Dillon McGrew ’07 and Mark Rhode ’07 were able to contribute from the bench after starters Ian McCormick ’08 and Steve Wolf ’08 were benched due to heavy fouls during the first half.

McDaniel came out of the intermission determined not to go down in flames by ripping off a 7-2 run, but four points from McCormick and a trey from McGrew settled down the Green Terror. At this point, McDaniel became much more agressive on the way to grabbing 28 fouls on the afternoon.

Though the Green Terror was able to grab a seven-point lead midway through the quarter, star player Nick Brandenburg remained largely ineffective due to the athletic defensive play of senior captain Chris Casey ’07, who helped to keep Brandenburg to 3-13 from the floor.

At this point in the game, Wolf really came alive, scoring 14 of his 19 points during a five-minute period late in the second half, which largely allowed the Garnet to win the game.

However, three other Garnet players scored in double digits, with McCormick putting up 16, Allen draining 11 and Matt Kurman ’08 putting in 10 of his own. Allen and Casey also added five assists apiece, while Matt Turner ’10 cleaned the glass with eight rebounds on the day. The game was essentially iced when the Garnet hit five of six free throws down the stretch near the end the game, winning 85-75 to clinch its seventh conference victory on the season.

“We seriously have a chance to win out the rest of the season, we just need to play hard and to the best of our ability. Hopefully then the playoffs will follow.” Ordonez said.

The Garnet traveled to Muhlenberg last night to take on the Mules in a game too late for press time. Following this game, the Garnet will travel to Gettysburg on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Garnet has three other games left of the season and remains tied for fourth in the conference with Gettysburg, one spot behind its rival opponent Haverford, whom the Garnet will play in its final game of the season.

“We’re on a big streak.” Sean Johnson ‘10 said before last night’s crucial matchup against the Mules. “Tomorrow’s a big game, we’re hoping for a win and a three seed.”

Be sure to support seniors Casey, McGrew, Rhode and Alan Walsh at Senior Night when the Garnet plays its final home game of the season against Washington College on Wed., Feb. 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Tarble Pavilion.

McDaniel 75
Swarthmore 85

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