CHESTERTOWN, Md. - In the first game of a men's and women's basketball doubleheader on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, the Haverford men's basketball team (4-2, 1-0 CC) took down hosts Washington College (1-4, 0-1 CC), 74-61, in a total team effort. Ryan Trotter led the way with ten assists as the Fords finished the game with 23 assists on 28 made baskets.
In the days leading up to the game, Coach Pat Doherty mentioned that his team "would have to share the basketball on offense." Well, they shared the basketball indeed. The 23 assists from Haverford were just two shy of tying the seventh-best single-game total in program history.
The Fords also shot sixty percent from deep and once again won the battle on the glass, out-rebounding Washington College by a total of 37-32. After scoring 74 points in the outing, the Fords are an unblemished 4-0 on the season when they score 70 points or more.
Harry Johnson led the Fords on the offensive end. It took a few games for the first-year player to find his way into the rotation, but Johnson has started the last two games for Haverford. After scoring 13 points in the previous matchup with Rosemont, Johnson increased his career-high against the Shoremen with 19 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds in the triumph.
Two other players notched double-digits. Gabriel Franklin contributed 14 points, just below his season average of 15 points per game. Six of Franklin's points came from the charity stripe as he shot 6-for-6. Junior Josh Love scored 13 points while bringing down four rebounds. Starters Nicholas Stewart and Trotter scored six and nine points, respectively. The Fords got 13 points from the bench as Charlie Mamlin, Nick Kerkorian, and Stephen Flanders all picked up the rest of the scoring.
The Fords got it going early, jumping out to a 9-2 lead within the first four minutes. So far this season, Haverford has looked for the threes out the gates, but the Fords worked the ball inside to start the game, which led to open looks from beyond the arc later. Once the team established a presence inside, the threes began to fall. Franklin knocked down two, and Kerkorian added another, which made the score 17-9 in favor of Haverford.
The Fords built a 26-12 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half thanks to a lot of action in the paint to get easy layups or get to the free-throw line. The first half ended with the Fords shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and shooting 53 percent from the field compared to 29 percent from Washington College.
The second half was much of the same. However, Washington College would battle back a few times to get the score within nine points. Still, the Fords stayed composed and kept the Shoremen at bay with consistent shooting and crisp ball movement. Haverford's most significant lead of the contest was 19 points at the nine-minute mark after Johnson's lay-up to make it 58-39.
After his ten-assist night, Trotter will look to continue being the floor general for the Fords moving forward this season. The junior guard has led the team in assists in all but two games this so far this season. Trotter is averaging four assists per contest.
The Fords return from the Thanksgiving break to take on No. 8 Swarthmore inside Gooding Arena on Tuesday, November 30. The game is slated for 8 p.m.