HAVERFORD, Pa. – Louis Cipriano's 19 points led a trio of Fords into double figures during Haverford College's 81-71 win over visiting Muhlenberg College Wednesday night in Centennial Conference men's basketball action at Gooding Arena.
The win by Haverford (7-11, 3-10 CC) ends a five-game skid to the Mules who fall to 13-7 overall and 8-5 in the league with the loss.
The Fords opened the night's scoring with a Lucas Colombo jumper but Muhlenberg's Kevin Hargrove knotted the score at 2-2 on the Mules' next possession. That would be the last tie of the night, however, as Haverford followed with a Cipriano three-pointer for a lead it would hold onto over the final 38 minutes and 57 seconds of game action.
The first-half lead would blossom to 13 (21-8) nearing the midway point of the opening half before Muhlenberg chipped away to cut its deficit to only six. Haverford answered the Mules' push with one of its own and eventually stretched the advantage to 16 before settling for a 14-point, 41-27, lead at the intermission.
Second-half action kicked off with the Mules rollicking to a 9-0 run to trim their deficit to five but a Garrett Johnson layup halted the early rally, allowing the Fords to catch their breath and settle in.
Nearing the 12-minute mark Haverford owned an 11-point lead at 54-43 but over the next seven minutes the Mules would eat into that lead little by little until they trailed by only two, 63-61, with 4:50 to play.
Matt Sherman came to the rescue as he rolled from the top, right of the arc down along the baseline before ending up with an open look in the deep, left corner. Sherman found nothing but net with his three-point shot and the advantage jumped back up to five.
Muhlenberg retaliated with a layup, forced a turnover, then earned a trip to the free throw line where Brandon LaRose hit only the second of his two-shot opportunity. But the Haverford lead had been whittled to only two, again.
This time it was Cipriano's turn to play hero as he made a strong drive down the lane to the right of the basket, hit his layup even though he was fouled, then converted his free throw to stretch the advantage to five.
A missed layup from Muhlenberg's Alec Stavetski turned into an eight-foot jumper from Brett Cohen at the other end of the floor. From there, Haverford lengthened its lead until a pair of Cipriano free throws ended the scoring to provide the game's final 10-point margin.
Joining Cipriano in double-figures for Haverford were Brett Cohen with 18 and Matt Sherman with 11. Cohen led the Fords on the glass with eight rebounds. Also of note were the second-half points from Anthony Reyes and Gibby Graves. Reyes, with seven points on the night, and Graves, with six, each scored all their points over the final 20 minutes as the Fords held off the charging Mules.
Muhlenberg was led by Stavetski's 25 points. Hargrove pulled down a game-high 10 boards and Malique Killing added a game-best eight assists during the loss.
Centennial action continues Saturday afternoon for Haverford as it welcomes McDaniel College to Gooding Arena for a 3 p.m. match-up against the Green Terror.