HAVERFORD, Pa. – Cam Baker beat the buzzer with a three-pointer that lifted Haverford College's men's basketball team to a thrilling, 57-56, Centennial Conference victory over visiting Gettysburg College on Saturday afternoon in Gooding Arena.
Trailing the Bullets (2-4, 1-2 CC) by two with 1.9 seconds remaining in the game, Gibby Graves tossed his inbounds pass to Baker who quickly turned and fired the game-winner from in front of the Haverford (3-3, 2-1) bench. The buzzer sounded just before the ball bottomed out through the net cords sending the Haverford bench rushing onto the court while Gettysburg's sat in stunned silence.
Baker finished with a team-high 15 points and added four rebounds, three assists and one steal. Lucas Colombo snared a Haverford-high seven rebounds, six of which were off the defensive glass. Gettysburg's Alex Zurn just missed a double-double registering game-highs of 24 and nine rebounds.
The stunning finish was set up by a late run by Gettysburg which erased a deficit that Haverford created just before halftime.
Colombo's layup with 2:36 left to play in the opening half pushed the Fords in front, 23-22, for a lead they wouldn't relinquish until 29 seconds remained in the game.
Haverford built an 11-point margin, 52-41, on an Anthony Reyes three-pointer at the 5:55 mark of the second stanza but the Bullets quickly whittled the lead to six within the next 50 seconds. A Brett Cohen layup the next trip down the court pushed the Fords' advantage back up eight with 4:46 showing on the scoreboard.
Gettysburg rallied, however, with a 10-0 run over the next four-plus minutes to grab it's first lead, 56-54, since before Colombo's basket prior to halftime.
The Bullets' Sango Amolo hit the front end of two opportunities from the foul line, for the last of his team's points within the run, but missed the second. Graves rebounded the ball and raced up court, crossing the 10-second line and finally calling a timeout with 1.9 seconds left.
Baker started the last play of the game from the far side of the key, beating his defender across the baseline then up the sideline to snare Graves' pass for the game-winning shot.
Saturday's victory was the second in a row for the Fords following Thursday night's five-point victory at Washington College in another league contest.
Haverford continues league play with it's next two games, both on the road. The Fords travel to Collegeville, Pa., on Wednesday for a night game at Ursinus College then head to Lancaster, Pa., to take on 11th-ranked Franklin & Marshall College on Saturday afternoon.