CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The first Centennial Conference victory of the year did not come easily for the Haverford College men's basketball team. Playing Washington College on the road, the two sides traded the lead five times in the final 10 minutes of the second half. The last lead change came with 26 seconds remaining as Joe Scibelli grabbed a defensive rebound and knocked down a jumper at the other end of the floor for an 88-87 lead.
Haverford held on with two defensive stops that ended with the ball in Scibelli's hands both times. The final stop came when the Fords' sophomore picked off the inbounds pass with his team up two and just two seconds to play. Scibelli then hit his final two free throws of the afternoon for the eventual 91-87 victory in which he scored nine of Haverford's final 10 points.
The Fords shot well over 50 percent from the field en route to the win over Washington College. The Fords' point total was their highest since a 93-52 victory at Ursinus during the 2011-12 season.
Scibelli's final two points gave him 27 for the second straight contest as he also pulled down eight rebounds. However, Haverford was led by 28 points from Kahlil Garnes. The Fords shot 57.1 percent from the field in both halves. That included 12 three-pointers for the fourth highest total in program history. Garnes was 5-of-7 from distance as he matched his career high in points with the first 28 point contest also coming against the Shoremen during the victory at Haverford last season.
Grayson Roth was a perfect 3-for-3 on triples in the victory on his way to 11 points as he did not miss a shot all afternoon. Joe Hartman and Jonathan Lang were just a basket away from double figure outings as they each scored eight, while Sam Stogdon pulled down nine rebounds and added seven points. Washington College was led by 21 points from Dallas Marshall.
The first half saw Haverford jump on the Shoremen quickly with eight of the game's first 10 points just over three minutes in. The Fords grew that lead to eight points on three different occasions during the opening half. Despite the Shoremen tying the score three different times after, the Fords never gave away the lead and took a 48-44 advantage into the locker room.
Haverford led for over 27 minutes on Saturday. Despite the visiting Fords building a lead of eight again in the second half, the Shoremen took their first lead since the opening minutes midway through the second half on jumper from Jack Greer. A rapid back-and-forth spurt saw a layup from Scibelli and three-pointer from Garnes give Haverford brief leads. However, a three-pointer from WAC's Josh Porteous gave his side a 71-70 lead with 9:06 to play.
The Fords tied the game at 73-all with one of Roth's shots from distance, but would not take another lead until Scibelli's heroics during the final minute of play. However, Haverford did also tie the game at 83 and 85-all with just over two minutes to play. Scibelli's red hot shooting finished with his final nine points all coming in just over two minutes of game action.
Haverford assisted on 17 of its 28 baskets on the afternoon. In addition to his career day shooting, Garnes handed out a career-high six assists and came away with two steals. The Fords also finished the day with a 31-21 advantage in rebounding which helped turn into 13 second chance points.
Men's basketball will now break from competition until the New Year. When the Fords return from the break, which will last 25 days between games, they will host Sarah Lawrence on Wednesday, January 4 in a 6 p.m. tip.