HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team was tripped up in its Centennial Conference opener against Muhlenberg on Tuesday, 67-45. The Mules (3-3, 1-1 CC) shot 50 percent from the field in the second half to pull away from the Fords inside Gooding Arena.
Matt Sherman and Rohan Shukla each had 10 points for Haverford. Shukla's scoring output set a new career high for the freshman in the early portion of the season. Walt Plumlee added nine points to the Haverford offense. A trio of double figure scorers led the Mules, highlighted by 15 points from both Nick Rindock and Brandon Larose.
Haverford battled back-and-forth with the visitors throughout the first 20 minutes of game action. In a defensive battle early on, the Fords took the game's first lead when Josh Fried knocked down a jumper just two minutes into the conference contest. Back-to-back jump shots from Plumlee later tied the game at eight-all with just over 13 minutes remaining in the half after the Mules had taken a temporary lead.
Plumlee continued to pour in the points following three consecutive defense stops from Haverford. With just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half, a three-pointer from the Centennial Conference's leading scorer entering the night pushed Haverford's run to a 7-0 edge and gave the Fords an 11-8 lead. The host Fords also held leads of 13-11 and 15-14 following a pair of free throws from Justin Winkler and two points from the field off of Shukla's jumper.
Muhlenberg countered by turning up its defensive intensity and used a 16-5 run after Haverford's most recent lead to go up by 10 with 3:12 remaining in the half. However, the Fords closed on a positive note with five points from Sherman and trailed by just six, 31-25, heading into the locker room.
Despite appearing to be the team carrying the momentum into halftime, it was the Mules that scored 15 of the first 17 points to start the second half. That quick start proved to be enough offense to sustain the team in notching the conference victory by a 67-45 final.
Men's basketball will resume Centennial Conference play this Saturday when the team travels to Dickinson in a scheduled 4 p.m. tip. That conference matchup will be preceded by the women's game that will get underway at 2 p.m.