ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Win, or watch the league playoffs from the sidelines.
Haverford College's men's basketball team faced that consequence if it dropped Wednesday's game at Muhlenberg College, but the Fords pulled out an 84-72 Centennial Conference victory over the Mules to stay in the chase for a tournament spot.
The victory by Haverford (12-11, 9-8 CC) was the first in Allentown since defeating the Mules (12-12, 8-9) on their home court in 2005. It also leaves the Fords and Ursinus College (winners over Washington College Wednesday night) tied in the standings.
A win by the Fords over their final regular season opponent, visiting Swarthmore College Saturday at 3 p.m. in Gooding Arena, would still not secure a spot in the playoffs. If Ursinus, playing at Muhlenberg Saturday, wins on the road they would earn a tournament spot ahead of the Fords by virtue of the conference's tie-breaking procedures.
Haverford would still be alive in the chase, though, as the Gettysburg College-McDaniel College match-up comes into play if host Gettysburg falls to the Green Terror. In that instance, a Fords team that beats Swarthmore still makes the playoffs.
At least for now, the Fords still have a say in if they will qualify for the tournament, and the win over the Mules is one of the biggest wins of the season for Haverford.
After a short-lived lead by Haverford at the beginning of Wednesday's game, Muhlenberg pushed ahead by as many as eight points in first half action.
A Brett Cohen layup finished off a rally, though, that brought Haverford back to even at 15-15 with 10 minutes remaining in the opening stanza. Then a 26-17 closing run from the Fords allowed the visitors to take a 41-32 edge into the locker rooms at the break.
The lead stretched into double-figures several times throughout the opening nine minutes in the second half but Muhlenberg, also fighting for its playoff life, pulled back within two as the clock wound down past 11 minutes to play.
Again, a Cohen layup proved meaningful as his close-in basket sparked a quick 6-0 run that gave the Fords an eight-point lead, one that wouldn't dip below a five-point advantage over the next few minutes before Haverford eventually pulled away for the 12-point victory.
Cam Baker posted a game-high 21 points for Haverford leading a quartet of Fords into double-digits in scoring on the night. Sam Permutt notched a double-double in the win with 20 points -- 15 in the second-half -- and 11 rebounds, while Bo Friddell added 14 points and Cohen chipped in with a dozen.
The Mules were led by Spencer Liddic's 16 points and got 15 from Austin Curry.
Both teams shot well from the floor as the Fords finished with a 52 percent night and the Mules closed with 50 percent. Haverford picked up advantages on the glass, out rebounding the hosts by a 33-22 margin, and in the turnover department as Haverford netted 22 points off 16 Muhlenberg miscues while allowing only 14 points to the Mules off 11 Fords turnovers.
So it all comes down to the final weekend for Haverford.
Should the Fords take care of business against Swarthmore (3-15 in the league) Saturday in the home finale of three seniors (Permutt, Lekan O-Nicholson and Adrian Sills-Takyi), Internet-watching will be the first agenda item for the coaches and players in the post-game as they will all be looking for Ursinus-Muhlenberg and Gettysburg-McDaniel scores.