WESTMINSTER, Md. – A first half deficit proved too much to overcome Saturday afternoon as the Haverford College men's basketball team fell to McDaniel on the road, 63-48. The Fords trailed by 13 and cut the lead down to as little as seven points before being denied the chance to come any closer.
Matt Sherman led the Haverford offense with 18 points on the afternoon. He has now scored 10 or more points in 11 of his last 12 games, helping him to reach double figures in the scoring column 16 times this season. Tim Stewart rallied the McDaniel offense with 11-of-16 shooting on the afternoon as he poured in a game-high 25 points to lead his team to victory.
The defensive side of the ball had the better of the play early on. Despite limiting the Green Terror to 42-percent shooting from the field and just one three point shot, the Fords were even colder as they made just six shots from the field, including one three. McDaniel's defensive pressure allowed the Green Terror to hold a 27-14 lead at the break.
Sherman hit a pair of three-pointers to open the scoring for Haverford in the second half, getting the Fords deficit down to single digits. Gibby Graves followed that up with a layup to make it a seven point game, 29-22, with 16 minutes to play. Each side swapped 4-0 spurts with Haverford's coming on back-to-back layups from Lucas Colombo and Graves, making the score 35-28 with just under 13 minutes to play.
McDaniel answered the Fords' most recent charge with two more points in the paint. Haverford got the lead down to eight points on two occasions during the next four minutes of play after a three-pointer from James Levine and another layup from Graves. The last time Haverford got within eight points came with 7:11 on the clock after Sherman hit both free throws on his trip to the line, making the score 48-40.
After staying within striking distance for the majority of the second half, Haverford was unable to will itself any closer as the Green Terror finished the game with a 63-48 edge. Over the final 20 minutes, the Green Terror shot over 56-percent (13-of-23) from the field. The Fords knocked down six three-pointers compared to McDaniel's two for the game.
In addition to Sherman's team-high 18 points, Graves finished with nine points. Both Anthony Reyes and Colombo added seven to the score column. Graves also came down with a team-high six rebounds as all nine players that got in the game pulled down a rebound for the Fords.
Men's basketball will close out the regular with three of its final four games on the year at home. The first of those games will be next Wednesday at 8 p.m. against Washington College.