Men's Basketball Toppled By Undefeated Swarthmore

SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Wells College men's basketball team was defeated by the host Garnet of Swarthmore College by a 103-66 score on Sunday. Wells, competing in the championship game of the Garnet Holiday Classic, concludes the 2015 portion of its campaign with a 3-6 overall record.

Swarthmore, one of only a few remaining teams in the nation without a defeat, moves to 9-0 after its convincing win over the Express. Moving forward, Wells may be taking on its second-straight undefeated opponent as New York University, the No. 12-ranked team in NCAA Division III, comes to Aurora on Tuesday, Jan. 5 at 7 p.m.

In only 13 minutes of play off the bench, sophomore MJ Williams (Tampa, Fla.) posted 14 points to lead the Express after converting 5-of-6 from the floor, including four three-point field goals without a miss from distance. Junior Vaughndell Brantley (Syracuse, N.Y.) tallied 10 points for Wells, rounding out the double-digit point scorers for the Express.

Brantley poured home a three-point basket in the game's first 42 seconds to tie the game at three, but the Garnet never trailed in the game and overwhelmed the Express statistically, doubling up Wells in total rebounds (46-to-23) and outshooting the visitors by a 54.2%-to-36.5% margin. Wells did, however, pour home eight three-pointers to post a season-high mark in that category.

For his cumulative performance in the tournament, freshman Rich Ross (Bronx, N.Y.) was named to the Garnet Holiday Classic All-Tournament team. In 63 minutes of action, Ross posted 23 total points (11.5 per game) and hauled in a team-leading 10 rebounds after shooting .467 (7-for-15) for Wells during the two-game tournament.