LANCASTER, Pa. - The Haverford College Men's Basketball team (4-13, 1-9 CC) dropped a road contest to Centennial Conference opponent Franklin & Marshall (14-3, 9-1 CC) on Saturday, falling 75-46 inside Mayser Gymnasium on a chilly and frigid afternoon.
Despite the cold weather outside, both teams got off to a hot start, with the Diplomats holding onto a small one-point lead, 10-9, with 14:21 remaining in the first half. Franklin & Marshall opened up the game shooting 4-of-8 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the three-point line, with Kevin Nowoswiat and Omar Nichols both knocking down triples in the stretch. Haverford shot 4-of-6 from the field to begin the game, with Ali Kaan Bek contributing five of the first nine points of the contest.
The next minute-and-a-half saw the Diplomats race out to a 7-2 scoring run to take a 17-11 lead, prompting a timeout for the Fords with 12:30 left in half number one. In the scoring run, Franklin & Marshall shot 3-of-3 from the field, a stretch that included a crucial and-one conversion from Nichols.
Out of the timeout, the Diplomats kept their foot on the pedal, going on a 13-4 scoring stretch in just over five minutes to take a 30-15 over the Fords with 5:57 left in the first half.. F&M shot an impressive 6-of-13 from the field, with Vakaris Grauslys knocking down a triple in the scoring span. First-year forward Gaven Marr kept the Scarlet and Black alive in the stretch, tallying four points.
The final five minutes and change of the first period saw the teams battle back-and-forth with Haverford outpacing the Diplomats 7-5 to trial 35-22 headed into the halftime break. Haverford went 3-of-8 from the field to close out the half, with one three-pointer coming from the hands of Nicholas Stewart.
At the half, Marr for the Fords, and the tandem of Nichols and Nowoswiat for Franklin & Marshall, paced all scorers with eight points each.
Coming out of the locker room, F&M raced out to a 15-6 scoring run that lasted over six-and-a-half minutes, to go up 50-28 with 13:25 left in the second half. The Diplomats capitalized off of a 2-for-13 shooting funk from the Fords, and countered with a 6-for-9 shooting display from the field. Nowoswiat posted an additional five points, while Josh Parra added four points in the stretch.
Following another timeout that was called by the Fords at the 9:20 mark, both teams began to find the bottom of the basket, with Haverford outscoring the Diplomats 12-10 in four and a half minutes. However, despite a remarkable 4-of-7 from the field, and 2-of-3 from three-point land, the Scarlet and Black still hovered around a 20-point buffer, 60-40 with 6:24 left in the ballgame. In the scoring span, Marr caught fire for the Fords scoring nine of 12 points, and sinking one shot from downtown.
F&M closed out the game on a 15-5 scoring run that lasted the remaining six minutes and change, to win the matchup 75-46. An efficient six of seven from the charity stripe, and 4-of-7 from the field got the job done for the Diplomats in the victory.
Marr led not just Haverford, but all scorers in the battle with 19 points, after knocking down eight of nineteen shots and splashing in one three-pointer. Seth Anderson led the Fords on the glass, pulling down seven rebounds.
Franklin & Marshall ended the contest with all five starters scoring in double-digits, as Nichols and Parra led the way with 15 points each.
Next up for the Fords, is a tangle with the Ursinus Bears on Thursday, January 25, at 8 p.m. The game will serve as the official Play with Pride game and will follow the Women's Basketball matchup against Ursinus at 6 p.m.