HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Fords got a game-high 24 points from senior Brett Cohen but it wasn't enough Saturday afternoon in Gooding Arena as Haverford College's men's basketball team suffered a 71-61 Centennial Conference loss to visiting Franklin & Marshall College which used a 22-rebound advantage on the glass to help in its road victory.
Haverford (2-5, 0-4 CC) carried a 32-30 lead over the Dips (4-4, 3-1) into the halftime break following an 18-5 run over the final 7 minutes and 14 seconds of the opening half. The Fords flipped a 25-14 deficit into the two-point advantage at the intermission with four different players scoring at least three points in the run.
A pair of Cohen layups in the opening minutes of the second half pushed the Fords' edge to six, a lead that inched upward to seven, 48-41, with 8:57 remaining in the contest.
Franklin & Marshall took over at that point, tearing up the court with a 17-2 run over the next six minutes to turn a seven-point deficit into a 58-50 lead.
The Fords pulled within four with 51 seconds remaining and then again with 43 ticks on the clock but six-for-six shooting from the foul line by the Dips kept scrappy Haverford from eating further into the advantage.
Louis Cipriano's 13 points combined with Cohen's 24 to add up to 61 percent of Haverford's scoring output in the see-saw battle. Lucas Colombo topped the Fords in rebounds on the day with eight.
Matt Porter tied Cohen for game-high scoring honors and added 10 boards to post one of three double-doubles by the Dips. Cedric Moune, 18 points and 12 rebounds, and Jon Salandra, 13 and 10, were the others.
The battle on the glass and free throws played a part in determining Saturday's outcome as the teams were within one percentage point in shooting from the floor. With 47 rebounds on the day F&M was nearly able to double Haverford's total of 25, and limited the Fords to one-and-dones all afternoon after allowing the Fords to come away with just seven rebounds in its offensive end of the floor.
The Dips also stepped to the charity stripe 25 times and drained 19 (76 percent) of their chances while Haverford made the trip to the foul line only 16 times, hitting nine of those chances for a 56 percent afternoon at the stripe.
The Fords will have nearly a month between games following Saturday's battle at home and their next outing in January of 2014. Haverford travels to Center Valley, Pa., on January 4-5 for the DeSales (Univ.) Invitational where the Fords will play Medgar Evers College on the opening day of the invite followed by a match against the hosts on day two.