HAVERFORD, Pa.. - The Haverford College Men's Basketball team (4-12, 1-8 CC) suffered a home defeat to Swarthmore (9-7,6-3 CC) 91-66 Wednesday evening inside Gooding '84 Arena.
After Ali Kaan Bek opened the scoring with a three-pointer for the Fords, the Garnet darted out to a 19-9 scoring run to begin the game, forcing Haverford to call a timeout with 12:20 to go in the first half. In the scoring run, Vinny DeAngelo of Swarthmore dropped nine points, including knocking down a three-pointer.
Out of the timeout, Swarthmore continued piling on the points, going on a 10-3 run to go up 29-12 with 9:20 remaining in the opening stanza. Michael Caprise of the Garnet posted four points in the scoring run, while DeAngelo contributed three more. The lone basket in the scoring stretch for the Scarlet and Black was a three-pointer from Nicholas Stewart.
The teams started to trade buckets following the timeout with Swarthmore gaining the edge 12-10 to lead the Fords 41-22 with 3:15 remaining in the first half. Of the 10 points for Haverford in the scoring span, six points came from behind the three-point line off of triples from Stewart and Kaan Bek.
The Garnet closed out the half out-scoring the Scarlet and Black 6-5 to head into the locker room up 47-27.
At halftime, DeAngelo led all scorers on the floor with 14 points after going 5-of-7 from the field, and 1-of-3 from three-point land. Following the hot shooting performance in the first half, Stewart led the Fords in scoring, posting nine points from three shots from downtown.
To open up the second half, Swarthmore jumped out to a 14-5 scoring run to take a 61-32 lead over the Fords, warranting another timeout from Haverford with 16:07 left on the scoreboard. A total of 12 of those 14 points came from three pointers, as Cal Hanson (twice), Aiden Godfrey, and Nyle Coleman all found the bottom of the bucket from behind the three-point arc.
For the next two-and-a-half minutes, Haverford outscored the Garnet 8-4 to trim the lead down to 65-40 with 13:15 left in the contest. The eight-point boost stemmed from five points by Gaven Marr and a three-pointer by Seth Anderson.
Following a Swarthmore timeout, the teams battled back-and-forth with the Garnet outpacing the Fords 11-9 to lead 76-49 with nine minutes left. The Fords rained down three-pointers in the stretch, as Anderson, Gabriel Franklin, and Kaan Bek all splashed in shots from three-point land.
For the final nine minutes of the contest the Scarlet and Black got the upper-hand in scoring, outbattling Swarthmore 17-15. Will Hatfield, Brandon Banadda, and Clay Killoren all contributed points down the stretch, however it wasn't enough as Swarthmore triumphed over Haverford 91-66.
The Garnet ended the contest with four of five starters scoring double-digit points with DeAngelo finishing the matchup tying a game-high with 16 points. Aidan Godfrey and Caprise lent a hand in the scoring department, each putting up 14 points.
For the Fords, Kann Bek achieved a new season-high in points, posting 16 points after going 6-of-13 from the field, and 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Stewart also had a season-high in points for the Scarlet and Black, contributing 11 points after going 3-of-5 from three-point land.
Next up for the Fords is a road trip to Lancaster, Pa, as they take on Centennial Conference foe Franklin and Marshall on Saturday, January 20. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. and will follow the women's game against the Diplomats at 1 p.m.