HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team sent its seniors out with a thrilling comeback victory Saturday afternoon, 76-74. The Fords come all the way back from down as much as 11 points in the game, including a nine point deficit with just under six minutes to play. Despite taking the lead with three minutes to play, the game was not securely in the win column until Gibby Graves made the final two points of his career perhaps his most memorable as his jumper in the lane with eight-tenths of a second sent the crowd storming the court.
The senior finished the day distributing the ball to any and all takers as he finished with 10 assists, while also scoring nine points and pulling down seven rebounds. Graves also matched the school record with 148 defensive rebounds in a single season, tying his former teammate Brett Cohen '14. Matt Sherman led all scorers on the day with a career-high 29 points. James Levine also added 13 points on his final day in a Haverford uniform. Senior Lucas Colombo pulled down eight rebounds and dropped in five points. Mark Loper also got the start on Senior Day, dishing out two assists on the afternoon.
With both student sections in full force, Saturday's game had several momentum swings throughout the contest. Swarthmore started off the game with 15 of the first 20 points just eight minutes into the contest. However, rivalry games are seemingly never that easy to win and Haverford came right back with a massive 22-3 run to take a team-best nine point edge with five minutes left in the half. By the time the game reached halftime, it was Swarthmore's run that carried a 33-32 lead into the Garnet locker room.
Swarthmore went on to record its largest lead of the afternoon with 16:37 left in the game and a 46-35 lead. A run of three makes from beyond the arc by Sherman and another basket by Henry Stevens during a two minute stretch got Haverford back within a single point, 47-46. However, the Fords were held off from taking the lead for the time being as the Garnet worked their lead all the way back up to nine with 6:40 to play and eventually held a 62-53 edge with 5:55 on the clock.
Once again, it was Haverford's prowess from beyond the arc that got them back into the contest. In a span of just 1:31, the Fords hit four three-pointers in consecutive possessions. Stevens started off the offensive blitz with a three-pointer. Walt Plumlee also got into the act before Sherman hit back-to-back shots from beyond the arc. His last three-pointer in that 12-2 run gave Haverford its first lead of the half, 68-66, with 3:09 left in the game. Sherman drove past the Swarthmore defense on the next possession, pushing the lead up to three points after a Garnet free throw.
With the Fords holding a 70-67 lead and 2:26 remaining in the contest, Swarthmore rallied to retake the lead after getting a layup and three-pointer of its own to take a 72-70 lead with eighty seconds to play. Looking to stop the brief skid, Haverford once again turned to Sherman as Levine found him for another three-pointer that gave Haverford a 73-72 lead with 34 seconds left.
After a Swarthmore timeout, it was Sherman that was now doing work on the defensive end with a rebound that led to him being fouled with 14.1 seconds to play. Sherman hit 1-of-2 at the line, giving his team a 74-72 lead. However, Swarthmore has one last burst in them as Zack Yonda drew a foul with eight seconds to play and knocked down both of his attempts to tie the game at 74.
Out of timeouts, the Fords found the ball in Graves' hand. Like he has done so many times throughout this season and his career, Graves broke down his defender in a 1 v 1 situation and drove to the hoop. Graves converted his chance and when the final buzzer sounded it sent the raucous student section storming the court.
The celebration would be temporarily stalled as the referees put eight-tenths of a second back on the clock. Nevertheless, the Haverford defense caused enough confusion and chaos in the limited time that Swarthmore was unable to even attempt its potential game-tying shot and thus cued another student section court swarm to celebrate with the team and its four seniors that will leave their Haverford careers with their final memory on the court as a 76-74 victory over rival Swarthmore.
Haverford's second half comeback was fueled by an 8-of-17 mark from three point land in the final 20 minutes. The Fords made 12 threes overall in the game, half of which came from Sherman's hot hand. The Fords being able to celebrate as a team in their final game together was also fitting after the team assisted on 19 of its 28 baskets on the day. Five different players recorded an assist on the afternoon.
With the 2014-15 season in the books, men's basketball will now celebrate the rivalry win against Swarthmore. The Fords' senior quad of Colombo, Graves, Levine, and Loper finish their Haverford careers with a 3-1 record against Swarthmore inside of the Gooding '84 Arena.