NEW YORK – The Haverford College men's basketball team (2-1) won the New York University Tip Off Tournament with a 93-83 victory against the host Violets (1-1). The Fords once again put on a brilliant show offensively, shooting 52.5% from the field in Sunday's championship.
However, perhaps more impressive was Haverford's 27-of-29 day at the free throw line with six different players making trips to the charity stripe. The Fords' 93.1% free throw shooting percentage was the second-best single game mark in school history with at least 20 attempts at the line. Only a 25-for-26 (96.2%) night at Muhlenberg in November of 2006 topped today's effort. Jonathan Lang and Joe Scibelli were both a perfect 7-for-7 at the free throw, marking just the 30th and 31st times in school history a player has made each of his free throws with at least seven attempts. Scibelli also had a 7-for-7 game at the charity stripe against Western Connecticut State last year.
Kahlil Garnes did most of his damage from the field and finished with a team-high 20 points to take home tournament MVP honors approximately 20 hours after draining the game-winning buzzer beater against Clark. Garnes has now scored 20 or more points in a game nine times during his college career. Scibelli was also named to the all-tournament team after pouring in 17 points. Each of Haverford's five starters scored at least 10 points, with nine different players connecting from the field during the victory. Kyle Goldfarb and Jonathan Lang each finished with 11 points, while Sam Stogdon added 10 of his own.
Haverford's 93 points were the team's most since a 93-52 win at Ursinus during the 2011-12 season. Although it is still early in the year, Haverford's offense through three games is averaging 85.3 points per game, nearly eight points per contest higher than the school record set during the 1955-56 season. The 48.7% field goal percentage and 10.3 steals per game to start the season are also on pace to break previous single season records.
The Fords pulled away late in the championship matchup, scoring 54 points during the final 20 minutes. The teams went into the locker rooms at halftime tied at 39 as the score was deadlocked on six occasions in the opening period. The largest lead during the first half came when the Violets led 16-9. However, a 10-0 run from the Fords made the contest a four point advantage in their favor. That margin, which was matched on two other occasions in the half, was Haverford's biggest lead in the first.
Lang, who has a team-leading 13 steals in the first three games, came up with one of his patented takeaways in the first minute of the second half and found Garnes on the fast break. The sophomore came up with four steals in total. After that basket with 19:02 left in regulation, the Fords would lead the rest of the way. Haverford's lead with dwindled to just a single point on on four different occasions in the second half. On that last occurrence, Haverford ran off six straight points, and 12 of the next 13 points, holding the Violets scoreless for just over four minutes to take a 69-57 lead with 9:51 remaining in the contest.
Haverford's lead grew to as many as 15 points following a layup from Garnes to set the score at 81-66 with just under four minutes to play. Once the Fords did push their lead to double digits for the first time all afternoon midway through the second half, NYU got its deficit down to single digits on just two occasions. Both of those times, the Fords answered with points on the ensuing possession to restore their double digit advantage.
Even with all five starters providing double digit scoring outputs, Haverford's bench still outscored the Violets by a 24-15 margin. Jack Cork highlighted those efforts with nine points in just 14 minutes of game action, shooting a perfect 3-for-3 from the field with three more points at the free throw line.
After taking two of its first three games to start non-conference play, men's basketball will open up Centennial Conference action in its only contest this coming week as a Tuesday trip to Ursinus awaits the team. The game will be contested as a doubleheader with the women's game. However, start time is scheduled for an hour earlier than the usual conference start with the women's tip set for 5 p.m. The men are scheduled to follow at 7 p.m.