Feb. 12, 2003

Box Score

Swarthmore, PA -- Matt Gustafson scored 25 points and David Pearce added 24 to lead the Swarthmore men's basketball team to a 71-50 victory over Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference action Wednesday night in Tarble Pavilion.

The Garnet improved to 9-13 overall and at 5-5 in the league are alone in second place in the East Division. Hopkins, which fell to 15-6 overall and 6-4 in the conference, is two games behind Franklin & Marshall and one game back of Gettysburg in the West Division.

JHU senior forward Steve Adams (Butler, PA/Butler), who led the Blue Jays with 18 points, scored the first five points of the game to give Hopkins the early lead, but Swarthmore answered with a 22-4 run over the next 13 minutes to take a 22-9 advantage with 4:50 left in the half on a field goal by Blair Haxel.

Sophomore forward Eric Toback (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Hebron) ended the run with a basket at the 2:16 mark to cut the deficit to 11 and break a 10 and a half minute scoring drought for the Blue Jays. Junior guard Kevin Marquez (Oakton, VA/Oakton) added a free throw, and after a basket by Gustafson, Adams scored to make it a 24-14 game with 1:08 on the clock. Three-pointers by Pearce and JHU junior guard Matt Righter (Clarion, PA/Lawrenceville Prep) ended the first-half scoring.

The Blue Jays opened the second half strong, going on a 15-6 run over the first eight minutes to cut the Garnet lead to 33-32 with 12:06 remaining. Adams hit two free throws just eight seconds into the period, and after Pearce scored a field goal JHU senior center Mike Blaine (Washington, DC/Bishop Ireton) scored to again cut the deficit to eight.

Haxel answered for Swarthmore, but Adams scored three straight baskets to make it a 31-27 game with 15:53 to play. After a field goal by Pearce, freshman forward Frank Mason (Silver Spring, MD/Barrie School) hit a three-pointer and added a two-pointer to cut the Garnet lead to one with 12:08 remaining.

Hopkins could get no closer, though, as Swarthmore scored the next five points to ignite a 17-5 run over the ensuing six minutes to pull away. The Blue Jays could not get the deficit under 10 the rest of the way, and the Garnet scored the final eight points of the game to win by 21.

Mason finished with seven points while senior forward Jay Kreider (Sykesville, MD/River Hill) posted team-highs of five rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Blue Jays, who committed 24 turnovers in the loss. Swarthmore, which shot 53.1 percent from the field and held a 36-28 rebounding advantage, got 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds from Haxel.

The Blue Jays, who are just 1-4 on the road in Centennial Conference games, play their final game of the regular season away from Goldfarb Gymnasium Saturday when Hopkins travels to Dickinson for a 4 p.m. game.