HAVERFORD, Pa. – A strong surge out of the halftime break nearly erased a double-digit deficit for Haverford College's men's basketball team but visiting Ursinus College managed to hold off the Fords then close out the game with an 86-71 Centennial Conference road win at Gooding Arena on Wednesday evening.
The Fords (8-15, 4-13 CC) rallied from 17 down at the intermission by opening the second half with a 16-4 run over the initial five minutes to pull within five, 52-47, of the Bears. Senior Brett Cohen spearheaded the explosion scoring the first seven points for the Fords.
Ursinus (6-18, 4-13) managed to hold off the resurgent Haverford squad, then streaked to a 16-2 run to answer the Fords' threat.
Haverford was less a victim of poor play but instead on the wrong end of an Ursinus squad getting hot as the regular season comes to a close -- winning its last three games, all against Centennial opponents. The Bears shot 50 percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes Wednesday night and scored 26 of their 48 points from inside the paint. They equaled their first-half percentage over the final 20 minutes while holding off a stubborn Haverford squad which shot 43 percent from the floor in the second half.
Cohen led the way for the Fords scoring a team-high 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Lucas Colombo paced Haverford on the glass with a game-high nine rebounds while adding six points and a pair of assists.
Also reaching double-figures in scoring for Haverford were Louis Cipriano and Gibby Graves who each dropped in 13 points. Graves dished out a game-high seven assists and added a remarkable five blocked shots to his stats line.
Ursinus' attack was led by Jesse Krasna's 17 points. Three other Bears also crossed into double-digits in scoring in the victory.
The game closed with Haverford's five seniors -- Cohen, Cipriano, Sean Bernhard, Geoff Hartmann and Jordan Taylor -- together on the court in their final home game at Gooding Arena.
Bernhard drained a three, only the second of his career, on his only shot of the game in the final minutes and Hartmann, with a jumper and a trey of his own, added five points. Taylor ripped down one defensive rebound in the closing moments.
Haverford closes out the season Saturday at 3 p.m. with a rivalry game against Swarthmore College on the Garnet's home court. The Fords will be trying to sweep the season series after downing visiting Swarthmore by a score of 70-59 one month ago.