HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team will head into the winter break on a high note after a convincing 71-39 victory on Saturday afternoon against Summit (Pa.) inside the Gooding '84 Arena. The Fords' 32 point win is the largest margin of victory since a 93-52 win against Ursinus during the 2011-12 season.
Pacing Haverford's offense was a 22 point day from Walt Plumlee and 15 points from Joe Scibelli that tied the freshman's season best set back in November. With his most recent scoring outburst on Saturday, Plumlee has now scored in double figures during six of the team's eight games and has three 20-plus point outings to his credit during that span.
Equally impressive was Haverford's defense that helped the team jump out to an early lead by holding the Defenders to just 6-of-36 shooting (16.7%) in the first half and just over 23 percent for the entire game. The 39 points allowed is the fewest surrendered by the team since a 44-36 win against Swarthmore during the 2008-09 season. The Fords did not allow a single player on the opposition to reach double figures and held Summit's two leading scorers, who came in averaging a combined 33.5 points per game, to just five points between the duo.
The Fords maintained constant pressure on the Defenders throughout the afternoon. Never was that more evident than during the opening eight-plus minutes of game action when the visitors had just one basket. That lockdown on the defensive end of the court allowed Haverford to race out to a 10-2 lead with half of those points coming from Plumlee.
Haverford's defense did not allow Summit to reach double figures as a team until a three-pointer with 4:20 to play in the opening half set the score at 22-12. The Fords' largest lead of the first 20 minutes was a 13 point advantage. Haverford held that differential on four different occasions during the half. Plumlee's eighth and ninth points of the half came at the free throw line to secure that advantage for the final time as Haverford headed to the locker room with a 27-14 lead on the scoreboard.
Just like the opening half, the hosts controlled the early action of the second half. A pair of old fashioned three-point plays from Kahlil Garnes and Plumlee, along with three straight free throws from Plumlee after he was fouled behind the arc, pushed Haverford's lead up to 22 points. Summit did not get its first points of the second half until 3:33 had gone by, but three-pointers from Henry Stevens and Scibelli helped the lead grow to 28 points, 44-16, with just four minutes gone by in the half.
With 12:03 left in regulation time, Haverford was still maintaining that 28 point advantage. Not satisfied, the Fords started a 9-0 run and eventually went on to score 14 of the next 16 points as their lead reached a game-high 40 points after Jeremy Evans converted his own steal on the defensive end into a layup on the quick transition. With the home team up 64-24 and 8:03 remaining, the Defenders never had a chance to threaten in the 71-39 final.
With all 13 healthy players seeing playing time, the Fords' bench outscored the Defenders by a 30-18 margin. Twelve of Haverford's players came away with a rebound, while 11 different individuals scored a point in the victory. Four players registered at least two steals to help the Fords come away with a 24-13 edge in points off of turnovers. This included a 10-0 advantage in fast break points.
Men's basketball will now be away from competition until the 2016 calendar year. When the team returns from winter break, the first date of competition will be the final non-conference contest on the regular season schedule as the Fords will travel to Rowan on Monday, January 4 for a 7 p.m. tip.