Visconti comes up big in DeAngelo’s absence, Swarthmore beats Haverford

HAVERFORD » Swarthmore couldn’t wait to get on the court at Goodman Arena Wednesday night.

The Garnet came out of the locker room with several minutes to go in the women’s game and sprinted onto the floor while the women’s teams were still in the post-game handshake line.

Haverford was hyped, too. The Fords ran onto the court seconds after the Garnet with a look of determination on their collective faces.

Rivalry games have a way of bringing out the best in both teams and the series between Swarthmore and Haverford, two of the premier liberal arts colleges in the country, is the oldest in the county. It dates back to 1920, spans 164 games and has been played continuously since the 199091 season.

Swarthmore has dominated the series lately, winning 14 in a row and 19 of the last 22 meetings, including Wednesday’s 71-58 triumph over the Fords Wednesday night. But the Garnet’s dominance of late hasn’t taken any of the luster out of the rivalry.

Just like in the first meeting this season, the ninth-ranked Garnet (22-2 overall, 16-1 Centennial Conference) had to rally in the second half to secure a win, its fifth straight to stay in sole possession of first place in the Centennial Conference with one game to go before the conference tournament. The Garnet can wrap up first place and host the conference tournament with a win over Gettysburg on the road Saturday.

And Swarthmore had to do so without leading scorer Vinny DeAngelo, the reigning Centennial Conference Player of the Week. The Sun Valley All-Delco star was reportedly at home, sick.

George Visconti picked up much of the offensive slack with a gamehigh 30 points. Freshman Cal Hanson scored all 14 of his points in the second half to help the Garnet rally from a 45-32 deficit with 17:05 to play in the game.

For a good portion of the game, though, it looked like Haverford was going to get its first win over the Garnet since a 76-74 triumph on Feb. 21, 2015 thanks to the scoring of Brandon Banadda (13 points) and Ryan Trotter (11).

Haverford (8-16, 6-11) opened the game 6-for-8 from the field that included 3-for-5 from 3-point range to jump out to a 16-7 lead. The Fords eventually cooled down but were able to build a 12-point advantage and take a 34-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Haverford’s ability to attack the rim was the difference in the opening 20 minutes. The Fords enjoyed an 18-8 advantage in points in the paint. Trotter led the way with 11 points. Jackson Ryan pitched in with eight and Nick Kerkorian had five off the bench to help the Fords lead from start to the break.

Swarthmore struggled without DeAngelo. Visconti tried to pick up the slack with 17 points, but George Corzine and Colin Shaw were the only other players to score for the Garnet in the half.

Hanson, though, gave Swarthmore life. He scored 12 of the first 15 points of the second half, including five in an 8-0 run, to get the Garnet within 45-40. Then Visconti heated up. He scored four points and fed Eddie Paquette for a layup that led to a conventional three-point play that gave Swarthmore its first lead of the game, 52-51.

Nick Kerkorian got the lead back for Haverford but Caprise scored inside to put the Garnet up for good.