COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team guaranteed itself a winning regular season for the first time since the 2010-11 campaign with a 70-63 victory at Ursinus on Wednesday evening. The Fords (13-5, 8-3 CC) completed their first season sweep of the Bears since the 1997-98 campaign with their latest win. Haverford also tied its program record of 15 three-pointers made for the second time this season, a highlight the Fords first hit this year in the victory against Gettysburg.
Seven different players knocked down a three-pointer for the Fords as they were led by Jackson Ryan's 12 points. Josh Love finished in double figures for the third straight contest with 11 points while Jack Cork added 10. Jesse Turkson and Joe Wujciak each totaled nine points. Ursinus was led by 26 points from Ryan Hughes as all but four of the Bears' points were scored by just four players.
These two sides went to overtime when they first met back in November on Haverford's campus before a 94-88 Fords win. Tonight, the Fords knocked down seven treys during the first 10 minutes and raced out to a game-high 16 point lead, 24-8, just 9:40 into regulation. Haverford never trailed during the Centennial Conference clash, but the Bears certainly didn't go away quietly despite facing an uphill challenge from the start.
After Haverford controlled the opening 10 minutes, Ursinus closed the half with a run of its own and trailed just 34-29 at the break thanks in large part to 22 points in the paint. Bouncing back out of the break, the Fords started the second period with a three-pointer from Wujciak to go up by eight. Once again, the Bears answered and tied the contest at 37-all with 14:41 remaining in regulation.
Charlie Mamlin, who provided a huge boost off the bench with seven points in just 12 minutes, stopped that skid with a jumper as the Fords retook the lead. The Fords then started to once again heat up from beyond the arc as a pair of three pointers from Love, along with a triple from Ryan, came in three successive possessions to put Haverford up by seven with 13 minutes to go.
Haverford was still holding a seven point lead midway through the second half before Mamlin scored five straight on his own to precede a Ryan Trotter steal and eventual Jack Cork finish in the paint which pushed the advantage back to 14 points, 61-47. With just over seven minutes to play, Ursinus got the deficit down to seven points just twice over that remaining time as the Fords put the finishing touches on their 70-63 win.
Accounting for 45 of the team's 70 points from beyond the arc, the Fords opened up those clean shots with nifty passing as 20 of the team's 26 total field goals were assisted. Wujciak dished out a game-high six helpers while Ryan added four in addition to leading the team in scoring. Six difference players handed out multiple assists on the night as the Fords shot 45.5% from distance.
Men's basketball will return home this Saturday as the team begins the final month of the regular season by welcoming Dickinson to campus in a 3 p.m. scheduled tip. That game will be part of doubleheader with the women's team battling the Red Devils starting at 1 p.m. Haverford downed Dickinson by a 75-58 score when these teams met in Carlisle during early December.