Breslin Scores Career-Best 31 Points for Shoremen in Triumph

SWARTHMORE, PA – Sophomore guard/forward Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) scored a career-high 31 points, including 23 in the second half, and senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) tallied a double-double with 17 points and a game-best 10 rebounds as visiting Washington College topped host Swarthmore College, 73-64, in Centennial Conference men's basketball action on Friday night at Tarble Pavilion. Washington improves to 11-8 overall and 9-6 in the Cetennial, while the Garnet drops to 5-16 and 4-10 respectively. It is Washington's first win at Tarble Pavilion since a 65-62 win on January 25, 2006.

Breslin scored eight of the first 10 points for Washington as the guests jumped out a 10-6 lead with 13:34 left in the first half. The Shoremen, who never trailed in the game, pushed the lead to 20-11 with 5:21 to go in the opening stanza on a layup by Kines. The Garnet would respond with a 12-4 run to cut the Shoremen lead to 24-23 with 38 ticks left in the first half on a lay-in by Will Gates. During the run, Matt Allen drained two three-pointers for Swarthmore. The Shoremen answered though with four seconds left in the stanza when senior guard Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) nailed a triple to give Washington a 27-23 lead at halftime. In the first half, Kines led all players with 10 points in the half and him and Breslin each scored eight straight WC points at one point in the first.

The Shoremen came out strong to begin the second half, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the half to take a 36-25 lead, their first lead of double-digits, with 16:28 left in the contest on a trifecta from Breslin. The Shoremen expanded the lead to 44-29 with 14:13 remaining on a Breslin fast-break layup on a feed from senior guard Scott Hampton (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck). Hampton began the the play when he blocked a Ryan Carmichael jumper and grabbed the rebound. Breslin pushed the lead to 56-38 with 10:18 to go on two free throws and it would be Washington's biggest cushion of the night. Swarthmore would answer with a 9-2 run over the next 3:28 to cut the visitors' lead to 58-49 with 6:50 to go two Allen free throws. Breslin ended that run with a three-pointer to give WC a 61-49 lead with 6:22 to go, but the Garnet kept coming as they netted six straight points to trim the Shoremen's lead to 61-55 with 3:07 to go on two Jordan Martinez free throws. Kines pushed the lead back to eight at 63-55 with 2:44 left on a lay-in and then tipped in his own miss to push the lead to 65-55 with exactly two minutes left in the game. Swarthmore got it to within 71-64 with 12 ticks left in the game on a Gates three, but would no draw no closer and the Shoremen hold on for the victory.

Breslin scored his 31 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the floor, 3-for-5 from three-point land and 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Kines was 8-for-15 from the field, while sophomore forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) had 13 points, on 6-for-9 shooting, and totaled eight boards. Chambers handed out four assists to lead WC and tie for the game-high. The Shoremen held the upper hand in points in the paint (34-14), points off turnovers (13-7), second chance points (14-9) and bench points (18-11). The guests also held a 46-41 edge on the boards in the win.

Gates scored 19 points to lead Swarthmore, but shot just 5-for-24 from the floor. He also totaled nine rebounds to lead the Garnet. Martinez chipped in with 13 points, while Allen added 10 for the hosts. Martinez tied Chambers for the game-high in assists with four, while Sam Lacy had three blocked shots to lead all players.

Washington shot 44% from the floor, while holding Swarthmore to 30% in field goal percentage. The Garnet shot 75% (18-for-24) from the charity stripe, while the Shoremen were 67% (14-for-21) at the line. Both teams had 11 turnovers in the game.

With the win Washington is tied with Gettysburg and Ursinus for third place at 9-6 and now trail Muhlenberg by one game for second place. The Mules are currently 10-5 in the conference. All four teams have three games left in Centennial play. The Shoremen are two games up on sixth-place Haverford, who are 7-8, but Haverford owns the tiebreaker on WC. The top five teams make the Centennial Conference Tournament.

The Shoremen return to action tomorrow afternoon with a 2:00 p.m. Centennial Conference home game conference leader Franklin & Marshall.