HAVERFORD, Pa. – Three players finished with double figure scoring totals for the Haverford College men's basketball team. However, that was still not enough against No. 14 Dickinson and its two-headed scoring monster of Steve Collins and Gerry Wixted as the Fords (1-2, 0-1 CC) feel to the Red Devils (3-0, 1-0 CC) by a score of 75-57 in what was the conference opener for both squads.
Collins hit 11-of-14 from the field, finishing with a game-high 25 points, while Wixted, a preseason All-American, shot 9-of-11 from the field as he finished with 23 points. The Fords were led by a pair of 12 point outings from both Justin Winkler and Lucas Colombo. Matt Sherman also added 10 points to the Haverford scoring. Colombo just missed a double-double with eight rebounds on the afternoon.
Haverford battled all afternoon long against the nationally-ranked and Centennial Conference preseason favorite Red Devils. The Fords held a one point lead with 9:27 to play after Sherman found Winkler for an easy layup that made the score 49-48. However, Dickinson showcased its talents that have caught the eyes of the national raters by scoring 12 of the next 14 points to go up 60-51 with 4:58 to play.
Sherman helped the Fords cut into the Dickinson lead as his steal set up Colombo for a triple as Haverford cut the deficit to six points, 60-54, with 4:22 to play. The Red Devils countered that basket with a 9-0 run to put the game in desperation mode for the Fords. Forced to foul, Dickinson's 75-57 lead at the final buzzer was its largest lead that it would hold on the afternoon.
Dickinson's second half rally came after the Fords led for a majority of the opening half. Haverford scored the game's opening points to take an early lead. The Fords retook the lead with just over 10 minutes to play after a jumper from Colombo. The Red Devils tied the game on a couple of occasions but Haverford never trailed for the remainder of the opening half. The Fords' lead grew to as many as six points when Winkler hit back-to-back free throws around the three minute mark. Dickinson hit 3-pointers on each of its final two possessions in the first half to knot the score at 31-all at the half.
The second half would see the two squads tied on five different occasions during the opening seven minutes. Overall, the game would be tied on nine occasions throughout the afternoon. The Fords held three leads after that final tie of the afternoon before Dickinson's late rally proved too much to overcome.
Dickinson finished the game shooting 27-of-51 (52.9%) from the field on the day, including 21 points from beyond the arc. Haverford was 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field, but made just three triples on the afternoon. The two sides were an identical 14-of-19 from the free throw line, while Dickinson held a slight 33-27 edge in rebounding. The Haverford defense came up with six steals on the afternoon, led by three swipes from James Levine.
Men's basketball will be back in action this coming Tuesday when Muhlenberg comes to campus. The men's game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start. Tuesday's game will be a doubleheader with the women getting started at 6 p.m.