Signature Wins: The 2018-19 Haverford College men's basketball team saw the program take another big step forward as the Fords won their most games since the 2010-11 season. Some notable accomplishments along the way to those wins included the program's first-ever sweep of Gettysburg, a sweep of McDaniel in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 2005-06 & 2006-07 seasons, and the first win against Dickinson since 2013.
Even when they did not come out on the right side of the scoreboard, the Fords showed that they can compete with the best. The Fords split the season series with Washington College, but delivered a convincing 77-57 victory when these teams met in Gooding Arena during mid-January. The Shoremen, a team that the Fords have beaten seven times in the last nine meetings, went on to make the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Fords defeated three different Centennial Conference opponents by at least 20 points, the first time that has happened in school history. Haverford also gave rival and Division III national runner-up Swarthmore all it could handle in a 64-62 battle that came during late January as part of the Garnet's 15-game winning streak before falling in the national championship.
Season Notes: In addition to recording the most wins since the 2010-11 season with a double-digit total, Haverford's road victories (5) were the most since that same season … The Fords' six Centennial Conference wins were the highest total since the 2011-12 campaign … Not included in those victory totals were seven games in which the Fords had the ball in the final minute of regulation with a chance to tie or take the lead before coming up just shy … Seven players received recognition on the Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll, the most of any men's basketball team in the conference … Haverford posted its highest rebounding margin (+7.7) since the 1976-77 season and finished second to that same squad for total rebounds for a season … The Fords' 3.9 blocks per game marked the highest average since the 2000-01 team and ranks third all-time in school history … Joe Scibelli became just the fifth player in program history to earn first-team All-Centennial Conference honors this season, the team's first such honoree since the 2011-12 season … Scibelli led the Centennial Conference in both scoring (17.2 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rbg) as he became the first player in the league since 2011-12 to average a double-double … Seniors Kahlil Garnes and Scibelli both reached the 1,000 point plateau this season, becoming the 17th and 18th players in program history to hit that milestone … That duo becomes the fourth classmate combination to reach the 1,000 point plateau: Class of 1977: Dick Voith/Dave Stubbs; Class of 1996: Chris Guiton/Jamal Elliott; Class of 2005: Jeremy Bass, Mark Gabriel, and Matt Stein.
Postseason Awards:
- First-team All-Centennial Conference: Joe Scibelli
- Centennial Conference Academic Honor Roll: Jack Cork, Kyle Goldfarb, Jonathan Lang, Josh Radin, Grayson Roth, Joe Scibelli, Jesse Turkson
- Centennial Conference All-Sportsmanship Team: Kyle Goldfarb
- Centennial Conference Player of the Week: Joe Scibelli (11/12 & 12/17)
- Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team: Joe Scibelli
Looking ahead: The Fords will undoubtedly graduate three key seniors in 1,000 point scorers Garnes and Scibelli, along with 2019 Mike Mucci Award recipient Kyle Goldfarb. However, the Fords have increased their win total during each of the first two seasons under head coach Patrick Doherty and return a veteran squad looking to extend that streak to three straight years. The Fords will welcome back six rising seniors in 2019-20 who will provide the veteran leadership as the largest class on the team. However, it will also be experienced leadership as nine of Haverford's 11 returning players have started a game throughout their careers.