HAVERFORD, Pa. – Saturday's non-conference men's basketball match-up between host Haverford College and Oglethorpe University turned on the fortunes of both teams' shooting from beyond the arc as the visiting Stormy Petrels owned the edge in long-range chances to steal a 63-57 win over the Fords in the final game of the Equinox Classic at Haverford's Gooding Arena.
The Fords (1-1) shot 39 percent from the floor but only 22 percent (4-of-18) from behind the arc while Oglethorpe (2-0) drained nine of its 25 three-point tries (36 percent) despite shooting just 36 percent from the field overall.
The outcome turned for good on a three-pointer by Oglethorpe's Tyler Courson with 75 seconds remaining in the game.
Haverford broke out of a 28-28 halftime tie with a 9-2 run, then settled in with a lead of no less than two points for the next six minutes.
Trailing 48-42, Oglethorpe's Drew Patrick nailed consecutive three-pointers, sandwiched around a Haverford miss, to pull even with 7:31 to play.
The lead changed hands four times before the score became knotted at 54-54 with less than three minutes remaining.
A pair of successful free throws from the Petrels' Victor Rohlfs gave Oglethorpe a two-point edge and then a Haverford miss, from behind the three-point line, set up the visitors with the opportunity to ice the game.
Courson's trey with 1:15 remaining dropped the Fords behind by five and they weren't able to close the gap as the clock ticked toward zeroes.
Not to be lost in the Fords' gritty effort was Brett Cohen's second double-double in as many games. The senior started slowly but finished with 16 points and 10 boards, registering 14 of his points and seven rebounds in the second half.
Anthony Reyes was another bright spot for Haverford as he reached double-digits in scoring with 10 points including a 2-for-4 day from beyond the arc.
Haverford also picked up solid work from its bench which contributed 19 points in the loss. In contrast, Oglethorpe's starting five scored 57 of the team's 67 points.
Saturday's opening game of day two of the Equinox featured a 60-51 win for Ithaca College over Swarthmore College.
Cohen earned a spot on the All-Classic team and was joined on the squad by Ithaca College's Tom Sweeney, and Courson and Rohlfs from Oglethorpe.
Haverford continues with non-conference action in its next outing on Thursday night when Misericordia University visits Gooding Arena for a 7:30 p.m. contest.