HAVERFORD, Pa. – In what might be the understatement of the Haverford College men's basketball season, it is hard to picture a more heart-breaking, gut-wrenching defeat than the one the Fords endured on Wednesday night to Johns Hopkins. Just moments after Gibby Graves gave Haverford just its second lead of the night off an inbounds layup with 3.1 seconds to play, Johns Hopkins' Jimmy Hammer took the once jubilant air out of the gym with a back-breaking three-pointer at the buzzer.
It was a game that probably few and far between had even given the Fords any chance of a comeback given that they were trailing by 24 points with 15:56 to play in the second half. However, the Fords had 12 players on the sideline that believed. The positive energy spurred a 13-1 run that cut the game down to single digits at 61-52.
Just as quickly as the Fords appeared to have something going, it was the Blue Jays - a team receiving votes in the latest national poll - that stopped the bleeding temporarily and pushed their lead back to as many as 15 points with 4:51 left in the game. Undeterred, the Fords locked into their defensive mindset to fuel a 16-0 run. Each of the first seven points and 10 of the first 13 from that stretch came off the hot shooting hand of James Levine.
Levine's final three points of the night cut the deficit to just three with 2:39 to play. After another defensive stop, Lucas Colombo hit a jumper in the lane to make the score a one-point game. Equally important to Levine's offensive prowess were two big rebounds on back-to-back possessions, the final of which helped to key Colombo's basket.
The relentless defensive intensity continued with Matt Sherman swiping the ball from Hammer. He converted that fast break into two points that gave Haverford its first lead of entire night, 76-75, with 1:30 left in the game. The Blue Jays finally broke a 3:15 scoreless stretch with a pair of free throws to give them a 77-76 lead with just over a minute to play. Johns Hopkins was held without a basket from the field for the final 5:12 of the game before the buzzer beater.
Both teams would miss from beyond the arc in their next respective offensive sets. Off of the Johns Hopkins' missed three-pointer, Anthony Reyes collected the defensive board and pushed the pace up the floor with 19 seconds for what would have seemed like an impossible chance at victory just a few minutes earlier.
Handing the ball off, Sherman diced his way through the lane with four seconds left but was blocked at the basket by the Blue Jays' Ryan Curran. The Fords maintained possession with the block out of bounds and Colombo found Graves off the ensuing inbounds pass with 3.1 seconds, giving Haverford a 78-77 edge.
Having to go the full length of the court, things appeared to get even tougher for the Blue Jays when Graves deflected the initial inbounds play off to the side, leaving just 2.6 seconds to play. Putting the ball into play no more than 10 feet from the end line, JHU was able to find Curran at the top of the arc, he would then quickly pass to Hammer on the right side for the dagger three-pointer.
Hammer finished with a game-high 24 points as he shot 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc on the evening. George Bugarinovic and Gene Williams finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively, helping to lead a Johns Hopkins offense that shot just a tick under 57-percent from the field, including 10-of-24 (41.7%) from beyond the arc.
Haverford finished with a pair of 23-point performances from both Levine and Sherman, while Colombo added 13 points on the night. Graves' go-ahead layup with three seconds to play finished his offensive night with nine points, while Reyes scored eight. Defensively, Haverford had just as many steals as offensive turnovers with 10 in the game. Colombo led the way in steals with four takeaways, while Levine and Sherman each picked Johns Hopkins' pockets twice.
Men's basketball will be back at home this Saturday against McDaniel. That game is scheduled to tip at 3 p.m. It will part of a doubleheader with the women who get underway at 1 p.m.