HAVERFORD, Pa. – Host Haverford College rallied from a double-digit deficit late in the game to pull even with Ursinus College Wednesday night, but the visiting Bears pulled away in the final 100 seconds for an 87-84 Centennial Conference men's basketball victory in Gooding Arena.
The Fords (11-10, 8-7 CC) came back from seven down at the half to knot things up less than three minutes into second half action, then played give and take on the scoreboard with Ursinus (10-12, 7-8) as the score was tied four more times before the Bears opened up a 10-point lead, 75-65, with 6:25 remaining.
As late as the 3:46 mark the Fords were still behind by nine but a furious rally tied things up at 82-82 with 1:41 on the clock.
Sam Permutt hit the back-end of two free throw opportunities to initiate the come-back. Consecutive misses from Ursinus ended in a pair of Ian Goldberg three-pointers at the other end of the floor to close the gap to just two, and a Permutt layup after another Bear's miss brought Haverford all the way back for the ninth deadlock of the contest.
Ursinus hit five of eight free throws down the stretch, however, and the Fords simply couldn't find the bottom of the net until a Permutt layup with one second remaining resulted in the final three-point margin.
Bo Friddell ended his night early with his fifth foul late in the contest but not before he put a team-high 25-points into the book for the Fords along with a team-best six rebounds. Goldberg went for 24 including a 5-for-10 night beyond the arc.
Matt Hilton poured in a game-high 27 points for the Bears and got help in the offensive end from Jon Ward's 20 points.
The Fords shot 50 percent from the floor during the loss but Ursinus, behind a 36-20 advantage from points in the paint, shot 55 percent from the floor. The Bears also notched 13 second-chance points to aid their cause.
Wednesday's loss, combined with results from other Centennial action on the night, leaves Haverford tied with three other teams, all at 8-7 within the league, in a battle for three playoff spots. Leader Franklin & Marshall College sits at 12-2 while Dickinson College is 10-5
The Fords play at Dickinson in their next outing Saturday afternoon, then travel to Muhlenberg College, one of the other 8-7 teams, for a game next Wednesday night before closing out the regular season against Swarthmore College (3-12 CC) in Gooding Arena Sat., Feb. 19.