Sports

Despite potential, basketball off to another shaky start

In print | December 3, 2009

For the second straight game on the road, the Swarthmore men’s basketball team found itself down by double digits in the first half. Though they again used a second half rally, the Garnet fell to the Moravian Greyhounds Monday by a score of 78-59, six days after losing at Arcadia.

At Moravian, the Greyhounds opened the game by scoring the first 14 points, and though the Garnet was able to cut the lead down to eight at the half, a 0-11 three-point shooting performance in the second half doomed Swarthmore, who fell to 0-4 on the year. The victory was Moravian’s first of the year.

In each of its past three outings, the Garnet has had a solid performance from a different player.

Against Kenyon on the second day of the season-opening Equinox Classic, Will Gates ’13 scored 18. At Arcadia, Marc Rogalski ’12 exploded for 22 points and 12 rebounds. And against Moravian, Danny Walker ’10 scored 13 off the bench. But none of the individual efforts have been enough to land the Garnet in the win column coming off of a 3-21 finish last year.

The Garnet now turns to Centennial Conference play, in which it finished 2-16 last year.

The Centennial Conference will again be one of the toughest in Division III this year, and the Garnet knows that improvement is needed in order to compete against conference opponents.

Sam Lacy ’11, who returned to action against Moravian from an ankle injury that sidelined him for the first three games of the year, thinks that the improvement needs to start in practice.

“To be competitive in the conference, we need to increase our focus and intensity in practice to better simulate game situations. Individuals will need to accept their roles and play within themselves,” Lacy said.

Though the Garnet turned in strong defensive outings against their first three opponents, the defense struggled against the Greyhounds, allowing Moravian to shoot 40.6 percent from the floor and giving up 17 offensive rebounds.

“As a team, we need to get tougher physically and mentally and play defense with pride. Players simply need to regularly play to their potential, and we will be very competitive. We need to develop a killer instinct,” added Lacy, who finished with five rebounds — three offensive — in his season debut.

Head coach Lee Wimberly, who is in his 23rd year at Swarthmore, was also frustrated by the team’s defense. “I thought that our defensive effort against Moravian was the worst it’s been over the first four games. For the most part, it had been pretty good for the first three games, and that’s really a concern.”

The Garnet will also need to shoot better in order to compete against the high-powered Centennial Conference teams. The Garnet is shooting just 33 percent from the field while allowing opponents to shoot nearly 43 percent on average. From three, the Garnet has shot at 23.5 percent.

“We haven’t shot the ball well in a game yet,” Wimberly added. “The guys shoot the ball well in practice, and in the games we don’t … and if we don’t solve that problem, it’s going to be a difficult year for us, because you can’t win games against quality opponents … if you can’t make shots.”

The Garnet fields an extremely young team, with two seniors and five first-years on the roster.

Ryan Carmichael ’11 has recognized improvement in all of the first-years since the start of practice. “I feel like the freshmen have done a nice job adjusting to the pace and physicality of the college game,” Carmichael said.

Through the first four games, Will Gates ’13 is the team’s second leading (behind Rogalski) at 9.0 points per game. He is also perfect from the free throw line, shooting 11-11 through four games.

Jordan Martinez ’13 is the team’s leading assist-man and third leading rebounder. His play in the early going has impressed Wimberly.

“For the most part, our guard play has been pretty good … [Jordan Martinez] is really important. I think in general, we lack some toughness, and that’s a big concern, and he certainly does not lack that. But the guard play — even in his absence [against Moravian due to a wrist injury] has been pretty good overall.”

The Garnet returns to action on Saturday at home against Ursinus, with the men’s action scheduled to start at 3 p.m.