(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson men's basketball team had strong moments on Saturday but never seemed to find a rhythm, suffering a 66-53 setback to Centennial Conference front-runner, Swarthmore College.

The visiting Garnet struck first, taking an early five-point lead and doubling-up the Red Devils, 12-6, in the opening six minutes. They stretched the margin to nine on a three-pointer from Henry Cousineau at the 7:31 mark before Dickinson answered with a strong run.

Moses Romocki (Creedmoor, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) scored off a steal by Corey Sherman (Penn Valley, Pa./Lower Merion) to trigger a 7-0 stretch. Elijah Wright (Orange, N.J./The Pennington School) fed Michael Jurzynski (Pearl River, N.Y./The Master's School) for a three-pointer and then hit jumper to cut the deficit to 23-21, with 4:25 to play in the half.

Junior Justus Melton (Charlotte, N.C./Covenant Day) countered a pair of scores by Swarthmore to keep the margin at two as the teams headed into halftime with the Garnet on top, 27-25.

Swarthmore came out strong after the break, scoring the first 13 points to lead, 40-25, at the 14:53 mark. They would extend the margin to as many as 19 at the midpoint of the half, but the Red Devils were not quite done yet.

Romocki ignited the crowd with a thundering dunk off a steal and assist from Wright, generating some excitement on the Red Devil bench as well. Wright converted a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 11, with 5:48 remaining in the game.

A Zack Yonda three-point play gave Swarthmore a 17-point lead with just 2:04 left to play. The Devils would pull back within 12, but were unable to close the gap as the Garnet improved to 14-3 overall and 8-2 to take sole possession of first place in the conference.

Nate Shafer led Swarthmore with 17 points while Yonda finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points and controlling 11 rebounds.

Romocki finished with a team-high 16 points for the Red Devils, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Wright reached double-figures with 11 points, adding five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Melton tallied eight points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Mike Hinckley (Bryn Mawr, Pa./Episcopal) dished out four assists and knocked down a three-pointer.

The Red Devils slip to 9-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference. They are on the road on Thursday, traveling to Muhlenberg College for an 8:00 pm tip-off.