SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Fueled in part by a career-high 27 points from sophomore Matt Sherman, the Haverford College men's basketball team opened its 2014-15 season with a 71-63 victory over Bard on the first day of the Equinox Classic. Sherman led a trio of 10-plus point efforts for the Fords (1-0) on the evening.

Haverford nearly led the entire way as Sherman hit back-to-back layups within the first 30 seconds of play. The Fords held the lead the entire first half, taking a 34-28 advantage into the locker room at the break. Haverford's lead grew to as many as 13 points when Gibby Graves knocked down a triple to put his squad up 43-30 with just over 16 minutes to play in the game.

Graves would finish his season debut with 16 points as he knocked down 7-of-14 from the field, including what was his only three ball of the afternoon. James Levine added 10 points, going 7-of-8 from the free throw to also hit double figures coming off the bench.

However, the Raptors would slowly inch closer over the next 10-plus minutes before a 3-pointer from Bard's Alex Fabean-Scotch made the score 56-55 in favor of the Raptors with 6:10 left in the game. Fabean-Scotch would also hit another 3-pointer with 3:58 to play, making the score 61-58 and giving Bard its largest lead of the evening.

Unphased by Bard's new found lead, the Fords locked down defensively and allowed just two points over the final 3:57 of play to overcome the late adversity. Graves hit a jumper on Haverford's next trip down the floor, pulling his team within one. The Haverford defense drew an offensive foul on Bard's next possession to force the subsequent turnover.

Levine then found his way to the charity stripe and hit two of his seven free throws on the evening to put the Fords up for good, 62-61. After a potential go-ahead three bounced off the iron for the Raptors, Graves converted an and-one opportunity at the other end.

With Haverford leading by four, Bard broke its scoring drought with 38 seconds to play following a pair of free throws that made the score 65-63. With Bard intentionally fouling to lengthen the game, the Fords would make the necessary free throws to ice the game as Lucas Colombo, Levine and Sherman each drained their free throws in successive possessions as the Fords came up with a steal from Graves, forced a Raptors' turnover and watched a three go off the mark in Bard's final possessions of the evening.

Led by Graves and Levine, Haverford held a 32-16 edge in points off the bench during the season opening victory. Graves scored each of his 16 points during the final 20 minutes of play as Haverford's bench points advantage was 25-7 during the second half.

Bard was able to hold a 37-25 edge in rebounding, but that stat was offset by the Fords hitting an identical five shots from beyond the arc in six fewer chances. Haverford also went 20-of-25 from the line, while Bard made just 18 trips to the line in total.

Men's basketball will now turns its attention to the home opener tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Rochester Institute of Technology during the second day of the Equinox Classic. The Fords' home opener will be preceded by a 1 p.m. tip between Swarthmore and Bard.