CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The Haverford College men's basketball team was tripped up by Washington College on Tuesday evening, 81-66. The Fords (2-4, 1-2 CC) fell behind the Shoremen (1-4, 1-1 CC) by 15 points in the opening half and never fully recovered despite a late rally that saw Haverford shrink the WAC lead to single digits with just over two minutes to play.
Pat Morgan, the son of Haverford College women's basketball head coach Bobbi Morgan, led Washington College to its first win of the year with a 21-point outing off the bench as he shot 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. He did not miss a shot in the opening half. Sean Brooks (17 points), Dave Knox (13 points), and James Drury (10 points) also provided a variety of scoring threats from the Shoremen's starting five.
Gibby Graves led a trio of Fords to reach double figures on the night as he scored a team-high 17 points in the defeat. Lucas Colombo added 11 points and nine rebounds, while Justin Winkler added 10 points to the Haverford effort. The Fords had eight of their 10 players that saw playing time on the night record at least three points. The only two players that did not score checked into the game with just 26 seconds left in the contest.
The game started out even as the two teams were knotted at 10-all following a pair of free throws from Anthony Reyes with 12:10 showing on the game clock in the opening half. However, a 3-pointer from Morgan would give WAC a lead it would not relinquish the rest of the evening. Henry Stevens answered with a jumper on the next possession, but WAC scored 29 of the next 39 points to widen the margin before settling for a 42-27 lead at the break.
Washington College extended its lead all the way to 23 points early in the second half, 52-29, before Haverford would force the home fans to begin to sweat it out down the stretch. With 9:25 left in the game, a jumper from WAC's Brooks made the score 65-45. The Fords did not allow the Shoremen another basket from the field for nearly eight minutes.
During that defensive stronghold that the Fords held over Washington College, Haverford cut the deficit down to eight points, 71-63, after Graves made a pair of free throws with 2:12 showing on the game clock. However, WAC answered with back-to-back layups in its next two possessions before putting the finishing touches on its 81-66 victory.
Men's basketball will now travel to Franklin & Marshall this Saturday for its final Centennial Conference game of the 2014 calendar year. The Diplomats, a team receiving votes in the latest D3Hoops.com national poll, will tip off with the Fords at 3 p.m.