Shoremen Outscore Garnet, 20-10, in Extra Session

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Senior guard/forward Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) scored a game-high 24 points to help host Washington College top visiting Swarthmore, 80-70, in overtime on Wednesday evening at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference men's basketball action. The Shoremen improve to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the Centennial, while the Garnet are 1-7 and 1-2 respectively. It was the home opener for Washington.

Swarthmore led 58-54 with 2:25 left in the second half following a free throw from Andrew Greenblatt. The Shoremen cut the deficit to 58-56 with 1:41 left in regulation on a second chance layup by Chambers. The score would remain that way for the next 60 seconds. until sophomore guard/forward Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) canned a pair of free throws to tie it up at 58-58. On Swarthmore's next trip down the court, junior guard Dylan Bernstein (Laytonsville, MD/Gaithersburg) stole the ball to give the Shoremen possession. He passed the ball downcourt to senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) who was fouled with 14 ticks left. Kines made the first free throw, but missed the second to put the hosts up 59-58. Kines however was able to tap the ball back to Chambers off the miss and Chambers was fouled with nine seconds left. Chambers hit one-of-two from the charity stripe to put WC up 60-58. Swarthmore got the ball and Matt Allen drove to about 20 feet from his basket, hit a wide open Danny Walker who layed it in with 1.5 seconds to go from the right side to force the extra session at 60-60.

In the extra session, which Washington never trailed in, sophomore forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) netted a jumper in the paint to put the hosts up for good at 62-60 just 12 seconds into overtime. Chambers would extend the lead to 64-60 when he hit a jumper with 3:28 left. Following a layup by Walker to trim the WC lead to 64-62 with 2:28 left in the extra session, Chambers scored on a layup to put Washington back up four at 66-62 with 1:53 to go. After a Garnet miss, Chambers was fouled an hit both free throws to put the Shoremen up 68-62 with 1:36 remaining. Following another Swarthmore miss, Naymick drained two free throws to put the hosts up 70-62 with 1:21 to go in overtime. On the next trip down the floor for Swarthmore, Will Gates was fouled shooting a three and hit all three from the charity stripe to reduce the WC lead to 70-65 with 1:12 left. Bernstein would step up to the line 12 seconds later and cashed in on both from the line to extend the lead back to seven points at 72-65. After a Swarthmore miss, sophomore guard Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph) hit two from the charity stripe to put WC up 74-65 with 50 ticks left. Gates would respond for Swarthmore when he drained his fourth three-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 74-68 with 41 seconds to go. DeBoy responded with two more from the line to put WC up 76-68 with 32 seconds left. Allen trimmed the lead to 76-70 with 26 seconds to go, but the Garnet could draw no closer. DeBoy and Bernstein each netted two free throws in the final 25 seconds to provide the final margin at 80-70. During the extra period, Washington was a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line.

Washington raced out to a quick 10-4 lead in the first 5:30 of the contest to take the early lead. The Shoremen still led by five at 19-14 with 10:07 to go in the first half following a triple from sophomore guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield). The Garnet would respond with a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 20-19 on a free throw by Eugene Prymak that completed a traditional three-point play. After Swarthmore expanded its lead to 25-21 on a Prymak free throw, Washington closed out the half on a 12-4 run that was concluded by a Naymick tip-in with two ticks left in the first half to put the hosts up 33-29 at intermission.

In the second half, Washington led 39-31 at the 18:09 mark following a Bernstein jumper when the Garnet hit the Shoremen with a 17-2 run to reclaim the lead at 48-41 with 13:34 remaining in regulation and provided the guests with their biggest lead of the contest. Gates put Swarthmore back up at 43-41 on a three-point hoop with 14:58 to go and the run was concluded on a layup by Jordan Martinez. The Shoremen countered with an 11-4 run of their own to even the score at 52-52 on a DeBoy trifecta with 5:38 remaining. Gates put the visitors back up at 55-52 when he hit a three-pointer. The Garnet would extend their lead to four at 58-54 with 2:25 left on a Greenblatt layup.

For the Shoremen, in addition to Chambers, three other players scored in double figures. DeBoy netted 11 points in the win, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in overtime, while Breslin and Naymick each added 10 points. Bernstein had eight points to set a career-high. Kines grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds, while Naymick added nine boards, just missing out on a double-double. Breslin handed out a team-best four assists, while Breslin, Bernstein and Chambers each totaled three steals to lead all players.

For the Garnet, Gates had a team-high 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Martinez had 11 points and nine boards. The nine boards were team-bests. Allen scored 10 points and dished out nine assists to lead all players. Walker chipped in with 12 points for Swarthmore.

Both teams tied in rebounds with 49 apiece, while Swarthmore committed 22 turnovers to just nine for Washington. Washington held in the edge in points off turnvers (21-9), second chance points (17-11), points in the paint (30-26) and bench points (19-16), while Swarthmore held the edge in fast-break points (4-2). Swarthmore shot 37% in the game, while Washington shot 35% from the floor. The Garnet hit 40% from three-point range (8-for-20), while the Shoremen were just 16% (3-for-19) from behind the arc. The Shoremen netted 25-of-32 free throws for a 78% clip, while the Garnet were 14-of-20 from the charity stripe for a 70% clip.

The Shoremen return to action on Saturday, December 19, with a 4:00 p.m. game non-conference game versus Salisbury.