HAVERFORD, Pa. – When the Haverford College men's basketball team took down Washington College on the road back in January, the Fords shot 51.1% from the field. Tonight, Haverford's offense was keyed in ever so slightly more as a team-best 51.9% shooting mark from the field paved the way to a 79-69 victory and season sweep of the Shoremen.
Freshman Kahlil Garnes headlined the Haverford offense with a career-high 28 points on Tuesday night. Garnes now has four 20-plus point outings to his credit, including back-to-back such games with a 25 point effort this past Saturday against Franklin & Marshall. Although he shot over 58 percent from the field, Garnes did a lot his damage during a 12-for-13 night at the free throw line. However, Garnes was far from the only offensive contributor in the victory.
Fellow freshman Joe Scibelli registered his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds. A third freshman, Sam Stogdon, flirted with a double-double before settling for 12 points and nine rebounds. Three other players all finished with at least six points to provide balance to Haverford's attack. As a team, the Fords doubled up the Shoremen in the rebound column with 40 boards compared to just 20 from the opposition. Washington College had four players reach doubles figures as Dave Knox's 16 points led his side.
Defeating a team twice in the same season is never an easy feat; however, the Fords got a huge boost in the right direction when they went on an 11-3 run just over three minutes into the game. That 17-8 advantage grew all the way to double figures when Haverford took a 22-12 advantage following a jump shot from Walt Plumlee with 10:55 to play in the first half. Nevertheless, Washington College came back with a 10-0 counter punch to knot the game at 22-all just over four minutes later. The teams would be tied on five occasions in the final 6:22 of the opening half, including a 34-all deadlock when the teams headed to the locker room.
The host Fords trailed just five times the entire night and never let their deficit grow to more than a single possession. The last lead Washington College held came after a jumper put the Shoremen up 40-39 with 16:14 left in regulation. However, that basket was countered by Scibelli's own jumper on the next trip down the floor and the Fords held the lead for the rest of the evening. Those two points turned into a quick 7-0 run that was capped by a steal and old fashioned three-point play from Garnes to set the score at 46-40 with 13:40 showing on the game clock.
With a lead that held steady between three and seven points all the way down under the 10 minute mark, Haverford began to distance itself with a 7-1 spurt that pushed its lead back to double digits, 60-50, for the first time since the opening half. The Fords' largest lead of the night came at the 3:57 mark when Garnes knocked down another jumper to make the score 64-52.
The closest the Shoremen came in the remainder of playing time was a six point deficit that was quickly pushed back up to eight or more points each time with Garnes making all 10 of his free throws in the final 2:14 of playing time. Overall, the Fords finished 17-of-21 at the free throw line in the second half.
Men's basketball will return to the Gooding '84 Arena this Saturday to battle Gettysburg. The Bullets are currently receiving votes in this week's D3Hoops.com Poll. The Fords will be looking to avenge a January loss at Gettysburg on Saturday when the action gets underway at 3 p.m. The women are scheduled for a 1 p.m. tip with the Bullets.