COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Despite missing three players who had been a part of the starting lineup during the season, the Haverford College men's basketball team saw a number of individuals step up Wednesday evening at Ursinus as four different players recorded double figure scoring outings for the Fords. However, that balanced team effort was countered by four Ursinus players that recorded 10 or more points in the Bears' 83-76 win.
Leading that charge for the new look starting lineup was Henry Stevens' 16 points. Stevens, who came into the night with a previous best of nine career points against Medgar Evers during his sophomore season, nearly eclipsed that total in the first 20 minutes as he poured in eight first half points. Kahlil Garnes did the most damage for the Fords off the bench as he scored a game-high 19 points in his 25 minutes of game action. His total was matched by Ursinus' Malik Draper, who also scored 19 points in 36 minutes of playing time.
Walt Plumlee and Joe Scibelli finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Scibelli also recorded his second straight double-double and third overall on the season as he came down with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Foreshadowing a strong opening half from the Fords was a three-pointer from Stevens during Haverford's first possession. The teams found themselves tied at five-all before Haverford ran off a 5-0 run for its largest lead during a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes. That 5-0 run was capped by Stevens' second three-pointer in the first 3:14 of playing time.
During a hotly contested first 20 minutes, the two conference foes were tied on six different occasions. Ursinus' largest lead of the opening half came when the Bears went on a 9-0 run to claim a 23-16 edge midway through the opening half. Undeterred, the Fords scored on five straight possessions to retake a 28-26 edge with 6:43 showing in the first half. That 12-3 run was fueled by a pair of three-pointers from Garnes and another hit from beyond the arc off the shooting touch of Scibelli.
Ursinus broke Haverford's run for the time being and knotted the score at 28-all on the following possession, but a jumper from Kyle Goldfarb gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish for the remainder of the opening half.
The second half kept a very similar pattern to the first as the teams were tied on the scoreboard at five different times. Before the Bears tied the score, Haverford got a three-pointer from Stevens and layup from Sam Stogdon to extend its largest lead of the entire evening, 43-37, to six points. Ursinus eventually tied the score at 43-all as the teams continued to battle through the final deadlocked score of the evening, 60-60, with 9:50 left in regulation.
However, the Haverford offense that shot over 44 percent on the night went cold at the most inopportune time when Ursinus ran off 10 straight points to take a 70-60 advantage with 6:30 left in the contest. Shortly after, the Fords regained their shooting touch and got a three-pointer from Plumlee and two more points from Stevens. Nevertheless, Ursinus kept the late Haverford rally at bay by knocking down nine of their next 10 free throws.
Men's basketball is next scheduled to play Johns Hopkins this Saturday in a 1 p.m. tip. Reversing the traditional schedule, the men's game will start first with the women to follow at 3 p.m. Be sure to check back with HaverfordAthletics.com in the coming days should any changes be made to the schedule with the threat of winter weather in the forecast.