DALLAS, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team dropped its final non-conference game of the regular season Saturday afternoon at Misericordia, 66-55. Playing in what was the first action of the 2015 calendar year for all of Haverford Athletics, the Fords were denied a comeback bid by the host Cougars as Misericordia used a strong start to the second half before coasting to the victory in their home gym.

Gibby Graves led all scorers with 19 points in Saturday's contest. Matt Sherman also finished in double figures for the Fords as he scored 13 points on the afternoon. Lucas Colombo just missed a double-double for the Fords as he pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds, while chipping in eight points on the offensive end. The Cougars were led by four players that finished in double figures, including a pair of double-doubles that were highlighted by 14 points and 13 rebounds from Steve Ware.

Defense held the better of the play on the afternoon, specifically in the opening 10 minutes as the Fords limited Misericordia to just 13 points for almost all of the first 11 minutes of play. That defensive pressure allowed Haverford to take the lead at the midway point of the opening half when Graves hit a jumper with 9:30 to play in the half.

That 14-13 edge was the second lead that Haverford held on the afternoon as the Fords also jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead at the start. In addition to those Haverford leads, the Fords and Cougars were tied on the scoreboard at four different points during the afternoon. The final knotted score came at 16-all when Graves added in another two points towards the Fords' offensive effort.

Misericordia knocked down a three-pointer after that final tie score to take the lead for good, carrying a 30-23 lead into the home locker room. After a stifling defense effort in the first half, Misericordia appeared to find its offensive grove at the start of the second half.

The Cougars built their lead up to double digits in the second half, but a layup from Graves brought the game back to within single digits at 49-40 with 8:29 left in regulation. However, the Misericordia offense showed off its potential with 17 of the next 26 points. Haverford scored the final eight points of the contest, but was in too big of a hole to climb out of down the stretch.

Shooting from the field was nearly identical for the game as both sides took 61 shots. Misericordia was one shot better, making 25 attempts from the field. However, the Cougars also hit six three-pointers and added 10 more points at the free throw line. The Fords were able to force 19 Misericordia turnovers in the game. That total included 11 steals from Haverford. Anthony Reyes led the Fords with three for the game, while James Levine, Graves, Sherman, and Colombo all came away with two swipes.

With the non-conference slate behind them, the Fords will now focus all of their energy on the Centennial Conference schedule as the final 14 contests of the regular season will be conference battles. Up first will be a pair of home games this coming week against Johns Hopkins (Jan. 7) and McDaniel (Jan. 10). Both of those meetings will be doubleheaders with the women's team tipping off prior to the men's contest.