HAVERFORD, Pa. – The possible upset that was brewing at halftime fizzled in the early-going of the second-half Saturday afternoon in Gooding Arena as the Haverford College men's basketball team dropped a 71-56 Centennial Conference decision to 22nd-ranked Franklin & Marshall College.
Haverford (9-9, 6-6 CC) trailed the Diplomats (15-4, 10-2) by an 8-0 score three minutes into the game but battled to pull within one on three occasions over the final nine minutes before giving way to a 32-29 deficit at the break.
Brett Cohen and Sam Permutt, with 14 and 10 points, respectively, keyed the upset bid through the first 20 minutes. The two Fords big-men spurred an offense that got 24 of its 29 points from down low in the paint.
Second-half action opened with Haverford out scoring the Dips 6-2 to wrest the lead away from the visitors. Layups by Lekan O-Nicholson and Sam Permutt sandwiched around an F&M bucket, followed by a Bo Friddell jumper put the Fords on top 35-34.
That was the last time the home team would hold a lead, however, as the Diplomats took back the advantage and built a lead that grew to 15, and stood at 13 with 10 minutes to play.
After shooting 40 percent from the floor in the first-half, the Fords turned cold over the final 20 minutes falling to just 32 percent including a chilly 2-for-8 from beyond the arc. Unfortunately, F&M heated up and hit 57 percent in the closing half to keep Haverford at a double-digit deficit.
Permutt ended up registering a game-high 18 points for Haverford, but all five F&M starters reached double-figures in the win led by Hayk Gyokchyan's 14 points.
The Diplomats picked up 19 second-chance points and a total of 46 points in the paint, aided by a 46-29 edge over the Fords in rebounding.
The Fords did cause 17 turnovers and registered eight steals to help the squad accumulate 15 points of Diplomat turnovers.
Saturday's loss puts pressure on sixth-place Haverford to bounce back quickly as it faces one team at home in its next game, Washington College this Wednesday night, that's only a game behind in the league standings then follows with a road match-up Saturday afternoon against a McDaniel College team that is a half-game up on the Fords.
The conference tournament starts Feb. 23 with only the top five teams in the final league standings qualifying for the postseason.