BRYN ATHYN, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team closed the 2018 portion of its schedule with an 86-74 victory at Bryn Athyn on Thursday evening. The Fords (4-6) were meeting the Lions for the third straight year and earned their second straight double-digit victory in the series behind a dominant defense which held Bryn Athyn to just 33 percent from the field and under 28 percent from beyond the arc.
Joe Scibelli paced the offense with a monster night as he scored 26 points and pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds as he passed five people in just this game alone on the all-time scoring list and now ranks 12th in school history. He is now seventh in school history in career rebounds, crossing over the 600 rebound mark during tonight's game. Fueling Scibelli on the offensive end was a perfect 12-for-12 night at the free throw line as he tied the school record for free throws in a single game without a miss. Kahlil Garnes set that original mark with a 12-for-12 night at the charity stripe during the regular season finale in 2017.
Nevertheless, Scibelli was far from the only standout as Garnes and Jesse Turkson also finished in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Garnes is now just eight points away from joining Scibelli in the Fords' 1,000 point club. Kyle Goldfarb just missed double figures with nine points as nine different Fords scored in the contest.
The Fords held Bryn Athyn to 6-of-32 from the field during the opening half as the Lions came up empty on each of their first 10 shots from three-point land. That early defense helped Haverford race out to a 37-28 lead after 20 minutes. The host Lions held the lead on just two occasions in the early minutes of the contest. Bryn Athyn's final lead was a 14-13 edge, but Haverford followed that up with a 13-1 run and went on to lead by as many as 13 points during the opening half.
The Lions found their shooting rhythm early on in the second half and had the deficit down to two points, 45-43, with 13:25 to play in regulation. However, two of Scibelli's free throws broke a 9-0 run with baskets from Turkson and Grayson Roth giving the Fords points on three straight possessions to regain control of the contest.
Bryn Athyn made it a six point contest with 10:36 to play as the Lions hit one of their rare treys. Haverford easily countered that with an 8-0 run that featured four points from both Scibelli and Garnes as the Fords would lead by less than 10 on just one occasion the rest of the night. A layup from Michael Wiper, who finished with eight points, stretched Haverford's lead to a game-high 16 points with 7:43 remaining in regulation time. The Fords later matched that advantage at 78-62 with Scibelli back at the line and just 2:51 remaining in regulation time.
On its way to an 86-74 victory, Haverford recorded a 58-36 advantage on the boards. The Fords collected 19 offensive rebounds – seven of which came from Scibelli – and finished with a 24-7 advantage in second chance points. Through 10 games, Haverford is out-rebounding its opponents by 9.6 boards per game. That mark is the fourth highest in program history, trailing only three Haverford teams from the 1960s.
With Haverford wrapping up classes this week and finals the following week, the Fords will have an extended break over the holidays before returning to action on Friday, January 4 against Misericordia to begin the Lycoming Tournament. The contest with Misericordia is set to get underway at 8 p.m.