HAVERFORD, Pa. – It took every second of Wednesday night's Centennial Conference men's basketball contest between host Haverford College and visiting Swarthmore College for the Fords to escape with a victory as the home team withstood a trio of Garnet three-point attempts in the final 15 seconds to hang on for a 65-62 victory in front of a roisterous crowd in Gooding Arena.
Tied at 62 with 1:48 remaining, Haverford (6-10, 4-5 CC) moved ahead on a Brett Cohen lay-up from the left side. Fouled on the basket, Cohen completed the three-point play with a successful free throw to give the Fords a three-point advantage over the Garnet (1-15, 1-8).
Both teams missed opportunities as the clock wound down and with 15 seconds remaining and still trailing by three, Swarthmore ended up with possession in its offensive end. After a time-out, the Garnet inbounded the ball and got off their first three from high and right of the basket, immediately in front of the robust and rowdy Haverford student section. The Will Gates miss caromed off the rim to the right where Swarthmore's Jordan Federer gathered the rebound and stepped backward into the corner for another attempt from behind the arc.
This one also missed but bounced to the opposite, and open, side of the court where Jay Kober snared the loose ball and put up the final, but unsuccessful, three-pointer just ahead of the buzzer.
The frantic finish was indicative of a game which saw eight tie scores and seven lead changes.
Swarthmore leaped out of the gate in the first half to a 5-0 lead but the Fords scored nine straight to take the advantage. Later in the half, Haverford owned the edge from the eight-minute mark until a little more than two minutes remained when the Garnet's Michael Giannangeli pushed the visitors in front, 32-30, with a three-pointer.
The teams traded baskets over the next minute and then Swarthmore's Gates hit one of two from the foul line to increase the visitor's lead to three. Haverford's Louis Cipriano brought the crowd to its feet, though, draining a three-pointer from the right corner with two ticks on the clock to set the game back to even, 37-37, as the teams head into the locker rooms at the intermission.
The Garnet pushed out to an eight-point advantage five minutes into second half action and maintained a comfortable margin until a Cohen jumper at the 11:51 mark ignited a 12-3 Haverford run to give the Fords a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Cohen led all players in scoring and rebounding on the night, registering a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards. Ian Goldberg finished with 17 points and seven assists, including the assist on Cohen's lay-up near the end of the game. Cipriano also finished in double-digits for Haverford, hitting for 11 in the win including a 3-for-3 night from behind the arc.
Gates led Swarthmore in the loss posting up 17 points as well as a team-high eight rebounds.
The Fords registered only four steals on the night but took advantage of 16 Swarthmore turnovers picking up 22 points off the Garnet miscues.
The gritty game saw a total of 36 fouls called including a pair of technical fouls.
Haverford's win improves the lead over Swarthmore in the annual Hood Trophy competition between the two schools to a 4.5-2.5 advantage.
Next up for the Fords is Saturday's home Centennial contest against visiting Gettysburg College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m., following the women's game between the two schools which is set for a 1 p.m. start.