HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team tied a program record with 15 three-pointers made in a 94-65 win against Gettysburg inside the Calvin J. Gooding '84 Arena on Saturday afternoon. Seven different Fords connected from beyond the arc as Haverford tied the previous mark which was set against Ursinus in 2006. The Fords (11-2, 6-0 CC) shot 15-of-24 from beyond the arc (62.5%) as their victory over the Bullets (9-4, 3-3) kept them in a tie for first place in the Centennial Conference standings.
Five different players reached double figures in scoring as Nate Torres' 17 points off the bench led the way. Jesse Turkson, Jackson Ryan, and Jonathan Lang each finished with 14 points while Joe Wujciak added 12. Ryan led the Fords with four triples on six attempts as Haverford shot 53.1% overall from the field. Turkson's 14 points came as part of a double-double as he pulled down 10 rebounds to record his sixth double-double of the season.
The three ball was working early and often for the Fords as their first 18 points came on shots from beyond the arc in a contest where the Fords never trailed. The first points in the paint, where Haverford held a 36-24 advantage throughout the contest, came from Jack Cork with over 10 minutes of game action gone by and Haverford holding a 20-14 edge.
Haverford went on to hit a total of 10 three-pointers in just 15 attempts over the course of the first half and led by as many as 14 points during the opening period after Wujciak's trey set the score at 42-28. Gettysburg countered with one of its nine three-pointers on the afternoon to make the score 42-31 at the break.
The second half saw the Fords continue to light up the scoreboard as their shooting percentage rose to 59.4% over the final 20 minutes while holding Gettysburg to just 34.3% from the field during that time. Gettysburg trimmed the lead to single digits just once in the second half, but fittingly enough it was three-pointer from Lang that pushed Haverford's advantage back to double digits less than two minutes into the second half. The Fords continued to lead by double figures the rest of the way.
Holding a 57-45 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Fords went on a quick 6-0 run to push the lead to 18. Haverford unleashed its final run of the game via an 11-0 advantage to push its advantage to 30 points after Josh Love got into the scoring act with 1:15 left in the contest. The Fords went up by a game-high 31 points after Stephen Flanders' first points of the season before coasting to the 94-65 victory.
Although the three-point shooting was the headline, Haverford's passing certainly set the stage as the Fords assisted on 25 of their 34 made field goals on Saturday for their highest total since 2004. Those 25 assists are tied for the seventh-highest total in program history with the school record of 30 coming against Gallaudet during the 1995-96 season. Wujciak dished out seven dimes and committed just one turnover while Ryan handed out five helpers and did not have a turnover. The Fords finished with a 38-34 advantage on the glass.
Today's result sets up the anticipated first-place showdown with No. 1 Swarthmore as the first of two regular season meetings with the rival Garnet will come next Wednesday, January 15 on the road. The women's game against Swarthmore will get underway at 6 p.m. with the men to follow at 8 p.m.