GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Matt Sherman scored a game-high 23 points as one of three Fords to reach double figures on Saturday. Despite carrying over its hot shooting from the win against Washington College, the Haverford College men's basketball team fell by a 100-80 score against Gettysburg on the road Saturday.
Sherman now has 951 points for his career entering the final two weeks of the regular season. Kahlil Garnes and Kyle Goldfarb also reached double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively. The Fords shot nearly 53 percent as they tried to rally in the second half and were just over 48 percent for the game. The Bullets shot 66 percent for the game and had five different players reach double figures. Cody Kiefer's 22 points led his side.
The Fords were seemingly in chase mode all game as the Bullets scored the first nine points of the contest on their way to racing out to a 25-5 advantage during the first seven minutes. Haverford would nevertheless make the game an interesting affair throughout the evening. The Fords scored 15 of the next 19 points, capped by a 6-0. That offensive outburst brought the game to within single digits, 29-20, with 7:18 remaining in the opening half. However, the exchanging of runs continued with Gettysburg reeling off 18 of the next 25 points and carrying a 47-27 lead into the break.
Still down by 20 just two minutes into the second half, Haverford's biggest surge of the game came when it scored 29 of the next 39 points to make it a single point difference with 10:45 to play in regulation. A 12-0 run ultimately bookended that great offensive stretch for the Fords. During the 12-0 run, Sherman accounted for seven of his team's points. He scored 13 of the team's 29 points during the larger run with one conventional three-pointer from beyond the arc and a pair of old fashioned three-point plays.
After Sherman got in the paint to set the score at 61-60, the Bullets scored on each ensuing possession where the Fords had just made it a single possession contest. A steal and layup from Joe Hartman on the fast break later made the score 66-64 before Gettysburg got two points in the paint of its own. Garnes responded to that with a pair of free throws, but the Bullets rolled off eight straight points to answer that call.
Haverford outscored Gettysburg at the line on the strength of an 81 percent effort at the charity stripe. Sherman, who was 6-of-7 at the line for the game, added two more free throws to make it an eight point game, 76-68, with 6:31 to play before Gettysburg found its shooting touch late.
In addition to outscoring the Bullets at the free throw line, Haverford was able to come away with the edge in points off of turnovers despite both teams taking very good care of the ball. Haverford turned it over just six times all afternoon. The Fords came away with seven steals as the Bullets gave it away nine times. Sherman and Hartman each had two defensive swipes.
Men's basketball will be back on the road this Tuesday as the Fords travel to Muhlenberg with for an 8 p.m. tip in Allentown. Haverford will be back at home next Saturday where the team will honor Matt Sherman as a part of the Senior Day festivities.