SWARTHMORE, Pa. - It had been more than 600 days since Swarthmore College Men's Basketball took the court at Tarble Pavilion, but the Garnet were welcomed back by a raucous crowd on Wednesday. The nationally ranked No. 8 Garnet defeated Neumann University, 85-66, in non-conference tilt. 

Swarthmore wasted no time getting on the board as the Garnet opened on an 8-0 run before Jim Rullo called a Knights timeout. Just seconds into the game, George Visconti knocked down a triple, while Vinny DeAngelo and Conor Harkins followed suit with a layup and three-pointer of their own. Out of the timeout, George Corzine gathered a missed layup by Kyson Rawl missed layup. Corzine extended the Garnet lead to ten on the ensuing possession. 

Mid-way through the first half, Neumann took its first lead of the game as KJ Speller put the blue and gold up 21-19. Behind a three-pointer from Visconti and three free-throws Harkins, Swarthmore closed the first half on a 6-0 run for a 41-33 halftime lead. The Garnet defense held the Knights to 50% shooting from the field in the first half. 

For the opening minutes of the second half, Swarthmore's defense had to be a little cautious as they picked up seven fouls in the first three minutes. Neumann couldn't take advantage as they could only get within seven points of the Garnet. Michael Caprise hit a three-pointer with just over three minutes gone in the second half to extend the Garnet lead to 11-points, which was the least amount of points they would lead by for the remainder of the game.

The Garnet were lead by 26 points from Visconti. The junior guard added six rebounds and a steal. DeAngelo closed the game out with 13 points, two steals and a block, while Harkins added nine points and four rebounds. Caprise led the Garnet with nine boards, while Crozine added seven. Ryan Ingram finished the game with six boards, which four of them came in the second half.  Swarthmore shot 23-of-30 from the free throw line and 44.1% from the field.

Swarthmore moves to 3-0 on the season, while the Knights fall to 3-2. The Garnet will host Widener University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.