NEW YORK – A buzzer beater from Kahlil Garnes gave the Haverford College men's basketball team its first victory under head coach Patrick Doherty on Saturday night, an 84-82 victory over Clark. With a late tip pushed even later by games running long in the NYU Tournament, Garnes finished Saturday's contest just 10 minutes shy of midnight as overtime surely would have pushed the contest into the wee hours of Sunday morning.
That hectic finish saw both teams with a pair of opportunities to put themselves ahead during the final minute of regulation. Haverford tied the contest with 58 seconds left in regulation when Joe Hartman knocked down a three-pointer to knot the game at 82-all. Even though it was Haverford who trailed going into the final minute of play, that was far from the norm on Saturday as the Fords led for 32:29 of the 40 minute contest. Clark led for just 3:38 of game time and was tied for 3:50 more of the regulation periods.
The Fords (1-1) got an early jump against the Cougars (1-1) with four points in the opening 38 seconds and led by as many as 14 points just 6:10 into the opening half following a 15-0 run that stretched well over four minutes before the Cougars snapped that scoreless streak. Haverford maintained at least a 10 point advantage all the way down the 3:16 mark of the opening half.
The Fords' lead reached its peak following another 3:41 of defensive lockdown as Haverford held the Cougars scoreless from the field with a 9-1 run that made the advantage 19 points, 35-16, with 6:06 pn the clock following a pair of Sam Stogdon free throws. Nevertheless, the Cougars had their big run to close out the half. An 18-4 run during the final three-plus minutes of the period gave Clark a 43-41 lead heading into the locker rooms. Ironically, it was a buzzer beating three in the opening half which propelled them into the lead.
In addition to his late heroics, Garnes started the second half with a three-pointer to give his team back the lead. Haverford kept the lead for the majority of the half after Jonathan Lang knocked down a three at the 18:09 mark. The Fords' lead grew to as many as eight points in the second half. A three-pointer from Clark tied the game for the first time all night, 62-all, just past the midway point.
Despite the Cougars' pressure, Haverford never lost the lead until the 3:25 mark of the second half. Even then, Hartman's answer with a three-pointer tied the contest at 74-all with 4:07 to play. He also tied the game at 77 and 82-all. Those three-pointers were the sophomore's only nine points of the evening, but certainly proved crucial in the final result.
After knotting the score at 82-all, Hartman came away with the defensive rebound to stop Clark's first attempt at the potential game-winning possession. On the Cougars' next trip down the court, they were whistled for an offensive foul with just five seconds left on the game clock. Shaking off a missing just 25 seconds earlier, Garnes finished a jumper in the paint right after the Haverford coaching staff drew up the winning play during the team's final timeout.
Garnes was one of three players who finished in double figures for the Fords. Haverford shot 50% from the field in both halves. Garnes was right on par with the team average, going 4-for-8 from the field with a pair of three-pointers as he scored 14 points in the win. Joe Scibelli led Haverford with 17 points, while Lang added 11 more. Sam Stogdon and Hartman each finished with nine on the night. Ten different players saw minutes on Saturday for the Fords, with each of them connecting at least once from the field.
With the win on Saturday, men's basketball will now play tournament host New York University on Sunday. That championship game is scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. NYU was an 80-77 winner over Mount Saint Vincent in the first game of the tip-off tournament.