Sports

Still winless in conference, men's basketball struggles

In print | February 12, 2009

Swarthmore men’s basketball continued to experience difficulties in the Centennial Conference last week, dropping games at McDaniel (16-5, 11-3 CC) and Dickinson (10-10, 4-10 CC). The two losses kept the Garnet winless in-conference while the overall record sank to 1-19 (0-14 CC).

In both games Swarthmore played stretches of solid, competitive basketball, but a season-long epidemic eventually put both games out of reach: in the two games combined the Garnet shot 32.8 percent, making only 39 of their 119 attempted field goals. McDaniel and Dickinson together sank 52 of 116 shots, or 44.8 percent. Swarthmore simply could not score enough baskets to have a chance at winning.

The shooting percentage really does tell the whole story. In the Dickinson game particularly, the Garnet addressed the other main areas of concern in their play. The Garnet committed three fewer turnovers, scored the same number of points in the paint, scored seven more points off turnovers, and allowed only one more second chance point than the Red Devils did. They did everything they needed to do except sink baskets.

Swarthmore Head Coach Lee Wimberly isolated the concern even more. “All year long our shooting percentage from the two and three has been substantially lower than our opponents,” he said. “It’s not something that [the Red Devils] did. It was what we didn’t do.”

The problems began early as Dickinson capitalized on Garnet misses and turnovers to open an 11-0 lead during the first five minutes of the game. Swarthmore clawed its way back into the game with seven straight points by Marc Rogalski ’12, but the Red Devils eventually stretched the lead to 13 before Michael Giannangeli ’12 hit a three-pointer to send the game into halftime with a score of 37-27.

After halftime, the Garnet came out strong, playing its best basketball of the game. After giving up a lay-up to Dickinson, Swarthmore broke off on a 10-2 run spanning three minutes. Four different players contributed points and the Garnet again cut the lead to four points. Dickinson called a timeout, however, and used the opportunity to regroup. From there the Red Devils seized the momentum, scored 11 straight points, and put the game out of reach. The final score was 71-52.

Co-captains Matt Allen ’10 and Raul Ordonez ’09 both expounded on the Garnet’s shooting woes. “We simply couldn’t hit shots,” Allen said. “We only had two field goals over a ten minute span. We actually played decent defense during that stretch. We just couldn’t score.”

Ordonez, who led the Garnet with 17 points and six rebounds, emphasized the same section of the game. “We started taking bad shots early in the shot clock,” he said. “Dickinson continued to play poorly through this stretch, but we did not extend our run as we needed to. After a couple of minutes, they began to answer with their own run that eventually sealed the game.”

While the struggles continued on the offensive end, the defense of the Garnet also lacked potency. Ordonez identified Dickinson senior Tom Leszczynski, who recorded game highs of 19 points and 19 rebounds, as the main source of trouble. “We had a very difficult time with their 6’ 10” center. The referees did not allow me to push him off the block, which is what I usually do against my opponents,” Ordonez said, noting that his inability to do so “allowed them to get him the ball deep in the post, where he was able to take advantage of his height.”

After sitting out the last five games, Danny Walker ’10 returned to the hardwood against Dickinson and gave the Garnet a boost. Coming off the bench, Walker registered 24 minutes with nine points and three blocks. “I think he is getting his legs back, but for the most part he didn’t miss a beat,” Allen said.

The next game for Swarthmore is back at home in Tarble Pavilion. The Garnet face off against Gettysburg (14-6, 9-5 CC) at 4 PM. Even though the Garnet have been eliminated from playoff contention, they plan on finishing the season strong. “We need to focus in, have pride, and play hard, especially for our lone senior, Raul,” Allen said. “He has played so hard for us all year and we owe it to him.”