Swarthmore Men’s Basketball Rolls to 21 - 0

The nation’s number one team in Division 3 basketball put on a shooting clinic Saturday, February 8, as they trounced Franklin & Marshall 85 - 68. It was a tough game, though. For 35 minutes of the 40-minute contest, it wasn’t as lopsided as the final score suggests.

Swarthmore opened the game with two three-point baskets. F&M never led, but they stayed within striking range before allowing Swarthmore a last second driving layup at the end of the first half, giving Swarthmore a 42 - 33 lead. With 16 minutes left in the second half, F&M had cut that lead to 46-42. With about five minutes left to play, the score was 68-62. 

That’s when F&M hit the wall. Swarthmore’s 10-player rotation seemed to wear them down, and the Garnet put on an impressive spurt of dramatic three-pointers, along with a rare four-point play, to put the game out of reach and claim victory. 

Overall, Swarthmore shot 51.7% from the floor and 60% from three-point range, while only missing two of 15 free throws.

Swarthmore is an exciting place to watch a game. The large crowd is a mix of students, parents, alums, and locals who know their basketball. There are no cheerleaders hyping the crowd, but a DJ blasts the latest beats, creating a fun and festive atmosphere. There’s no admission fee, you can sit where you like, and parking spots — while hard to find — are free.

A couple things stood out to me before the game even started. First, Swarthmore’s pre-game warmup is a mind-boggling and intricately choreographed spectacle that even the Globetrotters would need a week to work on. It’s hard to keep up with what’s going on as every player is in motion: dribbling, weaving, running, sliding, passing, shooting… And then they switch to something else just as complex. I was worn out just watching. The players are all talking and yelling at each other, and the DJ spins hip-hop beats that almost got me on the floor doing the Nae Nae dance. Swarthmore has made the warmup drill into a work of art. More teams should adopt something like it, especially at the high school level.

I was caught off guard a bit when there was no national anthem. They had played it before the earlier women’s game, but a lot of places would have repeated it. Finally, a place where they don’t play that song before every single game. Once a day is adequate.

It’s easy to see that Swarthmore players love playing for Swarthmore. These guys enjoy and support each other, and have a lot of fun at what they do. The bench players are up and making noise the whole game.

After the win, I caught up with coach Landry Kosmalski, who said all the typical respectable things coaches say, like, “21 - 0 is great, but we have to prepare for #10 Johns Hopkins on the road next. We take it one game at a time.”

With four games left in the season, and a likely top seed in the postseason Centennial Conference Tournament (February 25 - 29), Swarthmore still has a lot of basketball left to play. 

You can see the Garnet one last time at home on Saturday, February 15, at 3 p.m. against Dickinson College.
All photos by Stefan Roots.