The Muhlenberg men's basketball rallied in the second half but could not overcome a large halftime deficit and saw its three-game winning streak come to an end with a 70-50 loss at first-place Swarthmore.

The final margin was not indicative of the effort by the Mules (11-8, 6-7) in the second half. Trailing by 20 at the break, Muhlenberg came out of the locker room with plenty of energy, opening on an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 12 and force a Garnet timeout.

The Mules continued to disrupt Swarthmore (16-4, 10-3) with their fullcourt press throughout the half, forcing 13 turnovers, including a 10-second violation and a five-second call. They got as close as 10 points on a pair of free throws by senior Jon Schreer with 9:15 left and were within 12 with 4:30 to play. The Garnet, however, hit a three and then made two free throws after a steal, extending the lead to 17 and putting the game out of reach.

Sophomore Erik Werheim (pictured above) led Muhlenberg with 11 points, and Schreer finished with 10. 

Senior John Hunter blocked four shots to move into fourth place on the program's all-time list with 139 for his career.

The loss left the Mules two games behind Dickinson and Franklin & Marshall for fourth place in the Centennial Conference, Muhlenberg hosts F&M on Saturday in a key game.