HAVERFORD, Pa. – The lead failed to change hands once over the final 30 minutes of action, but Haverford College's 78-75 Centennial Conference victory Wednesday evening over visiting Washington College was one of the most exciting men's basketball games of the season.
Haverford (10-9, 7-6 CC) owned a seven-point lead at the half, moving in front of the Shoremen (6-14, 5-8) at the 9:35 mark on Cam Baker's layup then building to a 34-27 advantage after 20 minutes of action.
The Fords pushed the lead to 11 in the early going of the second period but Washington's full-court pressure began to erode Haverford's edge.
Ahead by one, 42-41, with a little more than 12 minutes to play, the Fords worked to extend their lead back into double-digits at ten with just 3:37 to play but Washington embarked on its biggest rally of the second-half trimming the difference to only two as the clock wound towards the one-minute mark.
A Louis Cipriano layup gave the Fords some breathing room but Sal Schittino answered for the Shoremen with a layup of his own then, following a Haverford turnover, Kevin Breslin drove for the tying basket and was fouled on the play with 41 seconds showing on the clock.
Breslin missed the free throw that would have given Washington the lead and Bo Friddell snared the rebound for Haverford.
The Fords worked the clock with their possession and closed it with Ian Goldberg's layup to move back in front, 76-74.
A quick push up court by the Shoremen resulted in another trip to the free throw line but Chris Olsen hit only the back-end of two attempts leaving the visitors still trailing by a point.
Cipriano made a pair of tosses from the foul line Haverford's next time down the court to extend the margin to three but Washington had enough time remaining to get off a pair of three-point attempts that bounced off the rim allowing Haverford to escape with the victory.
The Fords scored from in close all night notching 44 of their 78 points from in the paint. They also out rebounded the Shoremen by a 44-33 margin, but committed 18 turnovers that helped allow Washington to keep things close down the stretch.
Sam Permutt registered a game-high 25 points for the Fords and got offensive help from Cam Baker who added 23. Permutt led the team on the glass with nine rebounds while Brett Cohen and Joel Michel each pulled down eight more.
Washington's efforts were led by Breslin's 16 points and six rebounds.
The victory keeps Haverford, sitting in sixth place within the league standings entering the night, in the chase for a postseason conference tournament berth. The top five teams will play in the tourney and the Fords trailed Dickinson College and Muhlenberg College (both 7-5 in conference action) by a game before the win over the Shoremen.
Haverford's next outing, Saturday afternoon on the road, is against third-place McDaniel College presenting the Fords with another chance to keep pace or move up within the standings.