HAVERFORD, Pa. – A late rally from the Haverford College men's basketball team was ultimately thwarted by visiting McDaniel on Saturday afternoon, 78-71. The Green Terror led by as many as 16 points in the second half; however, the Fords got within four points in the final minutes before coming up just short despite four different players reaching double figure scoring totals on the afternoon for Haverford.
Matt Sherman led all scorers with 18 points on the afternoon. Lucas Colombo added his first double-double of the season and second of his career with a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with 11 points. Gibby Graves finished with 15 points despite missing the final nine minutes of the game with five fouls, while Anthony Reyes added 11 points. The Green Terror used a balanced attack offensively with four starters and one player off the bench reaching double figures in points, while the other starter finished with nine points. Andrew Merlo led McDaniel with 17 points on the afternoon.
Haverford started strong on Saturday afternoon and led by as many as five points in the opening 10 minutes before McDaniel swung the momentum in its favor. The lead changed hands four times before the Fords were able to find their grove offensively. Trailing 12-6 in the early minutes, the Fords went on a 6-0 run that featured the final two points coming on a Graves' steal and basket to tie the game.
After the Green Terror hit a three-pointer to reclaim the lead, Graves went back to work in the paint with two more layups. He would convert the old fashioned three-point play on the second chance before setting up Walt Plumlee on a three-pointer to stake Haverford to its largest lead of the game. McDaniel answered back with an 11-2 run before taking a 36-31 lead into the locker room.
The Green Terror led by as many as 16 points in the second half and were still holding a 12-point lead with just over four minutes to go in the contest before the Fords' late rally. Reyes brought the game back to within single digits for the first time since the opening minutes of the half on a three-ball with 3:55 to play.
Still down by nine with just 1:19 left in the game, James Levine hit a layup to make the deficit seven, while Sherman dropped in a three-pointer following a single free throw from McDaniel to make the score 74-69 with just under one minute to play. The Green Terror again went just 1-of-2 at the line after Haverford's foul and a layup from Reyes made it a four-point game with 32 seconds remaining.
However, McDaniel found its shooting stroke at the line before the game got even closer as it made three of the last four to close out the win, while Haverford saw pair of three-point attempts fall of the mark.
The Fords shot just a tick under 53-percent from the field for the game, their second-best percentage this season behind the victory against Moravian. McDaniel shot just ever so slightly better overall from the field, but buried 8-of-11 from beyond the arc in the contest and added 12 more points at the free throw line. Helping Haverford limit the McDaniel offense were a season-high seven blocked shots on the afternoon with Colombo swatting away a career-high three shot attempts.
Men's basketball will now head back on the road for three straight contests. The first game of this road swing will see the Fords travel to Gettysburg next Tuesday. That Centennial matchup will be a doubleheader, but it will be the men tipping off at 6 p.m. with the women to follow at 8 p.m.