HAVERFORD, Pa. – Ian Goldberg's 20 points led the Haverford College men's basketball team to thoughts of an upset for most of Saturday afternoon's contest against the 11th-ranked Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats at Gooding Arena. The Fords' upset bid fell short, however, as the Dips escaped with a 71-61 Centennial Conference victory.

Haverford (2-7, 1-4 CC) served notice from the opening tip that the undefeated Diplomats (9-0, 5-0) were in for a challenge as the Fords fought off an early six point deficit to tie the game at 19-19 on a Brett Cohen jumper with 9:29 on the clock. Goldberg's three pointer at the 7:13 mark capped off a 5-0 run by Haverford to push the Fords' lead to 24-19. F&M rallied to go back on top, 31-30, with just under a minute remaining before Cohen's three-point play with 35 seconds left sent the Fords into intermission with a two point advantage.

Haverford guard Joel Michel opened the second half scoring with a three pointer to push the Fords' lead back to five. The teams exchanged the lead twice in the next five minutes before a Diplomat jumper at 13:39, to put them up 43-42, provided the last lead change of the afternoon. The Dips extended the lead to seven on several occasions over the next eight minutes but the Fords came roaring back as Goldberg's three pointer with five and a half minutes remaining sliced F&M's lead to two, 61-59. The Diplomats went on a 10-2 run in the final five minutes, including eight points from the free throw line, to close out the victory.

Michel had a career-high day with 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Cohen finished with nine points and led Haverford on the glass with eight boards.

Hayk Gyokchyan paced the Diplomats with 29 points and 11 boards. Georgio Milligan chipped in with 22.

Haverford hits the road for its next contest on Jan.2 against Regis College (Mass.) at the New York University Holiday Classic.