The SU men's basketball team dropped its first game of the season to the Swarthmore College Garnet, 78-73, on Saturday (Nov. 17) at the Equinox Classic in Haverford, PA.
The Pirates' only lead of the first half came when senior Goran Stojcic (Houston, TX/Stratford HS) hit the first shot of the game to go up 2-0. Swarthmore built its lead as high as 10 in the period at the 13:33 mark. Southwestern answered with a 9-0 run as senior guard Ben Schleif (San Antonio, TX/Reagan HS) scored six of those. The Garnet closed the half with five straight points for a 39-31 lead at the half.
In the second period, the score went back and forth with SU taking the lead multiple times. The Pirats went up by two on a Mike Powell (Houston, TX/Episcopal HS) three-pointer with 11:37 left to play. Swarthmore regained the lead with a seven-point run and the Pirates did not get any closer than one the rest of the way.
Schleif led SU in scoring, coming off the bench, with a career-high 21 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor. He was 2-5 from three-point range and 9-10 from the free throw line. First-year Zach Bergstrom (La Vernia, TX/La Vernia HS) added 11 points for the Pirates, thanks to a 3-4 night from beyond the arc. Junior Andrew McDonald (Austin, TX/Westwood HS) pitched in with 10 points, five rebounds and a block.
Senior Miles Elsey (Wimberley, TX/Wimberley HS) had a team-high four assists and three steals. Elsey was named to the All-Tournament Team. First-year Jonathan Brown (Houston, TX/Jersey Village HS) grabbed nine rebounds for SU and Matt Caplan (Houston, TX/University of Kansas) had seven points and seven rebounds.
The Pirates had a slightly higher shooting percentage than Swarthmore, 41.9 percent (26-62) to 41 percent (25-61). The difference in the game came at the free throw line as the Garnet were 18-21 compared to SU's 13-20. The Pirates turned the ball over just 13 times while forcing SC into 15 turnovers and SU had nine steals. The Garnet held a 41-35 advantage in rebounds.
Southwestern returns to Texas for a game at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, TX on Tuesday (Nov. 20) evening at 7:00 pm.
