UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. – Caleb Swearingen scored his 1,000th career point to help the Olivet Nazarene University men’s basketball team to a 75-66 win over Governors State Saturday afternoon in the ARC.
Needing 10 points entering the contest, Swearingen reached the milestone midway through the second half. He filled in four points in the first half before adding a layup and two more free throws to sit two points short. The senior guard then pulled up for a jumper to put his team up 56-47, marking his 1,000th career point in an ONU uniform.
Swearingen, who has played in 60 games for Olivet Nazarene, is the 50th player to score 1,000 points in program history.
He was also one of five Tigers to reach double figures in Saturday’s win, finishing with a dozen points.
After going back and forth through the early going, the Tigers started to fall behind midway through the opening period. Governors State (10-14, 6-10 CCAC) broke a 13-13 tie with seven unanswered points and later built an eight-point lead after a 3-point shot with eight minutes left in the first.
Daniel Murphy got the Tigers back in rhythm with a jumper before Will Baden took over. The junior center filled in nine points in four minutes, giving the Tigers a 31-29 lead when he capped the scoring spurt with an emphatic and-one dunk.
The Tigers quickly pounced on the Jaguars in the second half. Leading 36-35 coming out of the halftime break, ONU opened the second half with eight consecutive points. Caleb Corro ignited the run with a 3-pointer, quickly followed by Luke Yeager jumper. Tyler Curl knocked down a three of his own to put ONU up by nine. The Tigers led by multiple possessions from there.
Corro led the game in scoring and rebounding with 18 points and nine boards. Curl finished with 13 points and Yeager recorded 10. Baden finished his breakout game with 11 points and four rebounds off the bench.
The Tigers will return to McHie Arena for the first time in two weeks to host Holy Cross Wednesday.
–ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
