HAVERFORD, Pa. – Haverford College's men's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit against visiting Catholic University, but the Cardinals were able to regain the advantage and held on over the final minutes to secure a 74-68 non-conference victory over the host Fords on Monday night in Gooding Arena.
Haverford (1-3) trailed 49-37 with 14:18 to play in the second half but kick-started a rally with an Anthony Reyes three-pointer as the clock ticked past the 14-minute mark.
Catholic (3-0) pushed the lead back to 11 on a Shawn Holmes layup but the Fords embarked on a 13-2 run fueled by three's to knot the score at 53-53 with 9:30 remaining.
Gibby Graves converted a pair of free throws the next time down the court for Haverford following Holmes' layup, then Brett Cohen added a soft, eight-foot jumper from the baseline to trim the Catholic lead to seven.
The Cardinals interrupted the rally with a two more successful tosses from the foul line but Reyes and Eli Schwarz rained down successive bombs from outside the arc to complete the rally.
Reyes' three-pointer from a step outside the top of the key drew Haverford to within six and the Fords got the ball right back on a Catholic foul immediately after the shot. Schwarz popped a three from the top left and, after a Cardinals offensive foul on their next possession, drained his next shot from the right corner to pull Haverford even.
Catholic, however, went on a 9-2 run to wrest back control and finished the night off hitting its final eight free throws to stretch the advantage to its final margin of six.
Louis Cipriano, Reyes and Schwarz were a combined 10-for-15 from three-point land for Haverford on a night during which it hit 59 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Cipriano and Schwarz scored a team-high 13 apiece while both Reyes and Cohen added 12 each.
Both teams registered a hot night from the floor as Haverford poured in 52 percent of its shots while Catholic was 48 percent from the field including 46 percent from the arc.
Steve Limberiou led the Cardinals with a game-high 23 points and got a lot of help from Chris Kearney who added 20.
Haverford steps back into Centennial Conference action with its next game, a Thursday, Nov. 29 contest at Washington College in Chestertown, Md.