A tremendous effort by the Muhlenberg men's basketball team fell just short in the Centennial Conference semifinals.

The Mules (19-8) fell to Swarthmore, the top-ranked team in Division III and the lone undefeated men's basketball team in the NCAA, 65-62, when a three-pointer rimmed out at the buzzer.

The Garnet (26-0) advance to play Johns Hopkins, a 70-52 winner against Haverford in the other semi, for the championship. Muhlenberg ended its best season in almost two decades with a near-upset in front of a packed house.

Sophomore Dan Gaines led the Mules with 20 points, while the lone senior on the team, Matt Gnias, scored 18 in his final game. Junior Spencer Duke also scored in double figures with 10 points.

Paced by 8-of-15 shooting from three-point range, Muhlenberg opened up an 11-point lead with less than five minutes to play in the first half. Swarthmore stormed back, however, to take a one-point advantage (36-35) at the break.

Points were harder to come by in the tightly contested second half as the defenses dug in. The Mules took their final lead, at 51-50, on a three-pointer by Duke at the 9:04 mark.

The Garnet scored five straight points to open up a 59-53 margin with 2:45 on the clock - the first time either team led by more than five points in the second half.

Sophomore Dallas Hoffman answered with a three from the corner, and after an exchange of baskets and a Garnet turnover, Gaines drove in for a layup to make it 61-60 with 30.3 ticks left.

Four Swarthmore free throws sandwiched around another Gaines layup  gave Muhlenberg one last possession, down 65-62, with 10.7 seconds to play. The Garnet broke up the play but the ball came right to sophomore Nate Henty Brown, whose open look on a deep three drew iron as the final buzzer sounded.

Freshman Justin Allen had a strong second half with six points and six rebounds.

Gnias (pictured above) finished his career with 1,030 points. Gaines ended the season with 445 points, the most by a Mule sophomore in seven years.