GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The Haverford College men's basketball team (13-10, 9-7 CC) fell away from home inside Bream Gym on the Gettysburg campus on Saturday. The Fords came up short in a matchup with the host Bullets (14-8, 10-6 CC) by a final score of 75-56. The Fords battled for yet another comeback attempt but the Bullets were just too strong across the board in the second half.
Gettysburg started the game with a 8-0 run to get things going. Haverford struggled to get anything started on the offensive end, missing their first ten shots from the field overall. Gettysburg stood tall in the paint as the Fords tried to get on the scoreboard. In the first five minutes, the Bullets tallied four blocks before Haverford's scoring drought finally came to an end after Jackson Ryan knocked down a three-pointer.
Josh Love entered the game and knocked down two jumpers to make the score 10-7 after the slow start. In fact, the junior scored eight of the first 11 points for the Fords off the bench. Despite Love's stellar start, the Fords were still shooting just 26.1 percent from the field with seven minutes left in the first half. A timeout from Haverford reset the game slightly with the Fords only trailing by four points despite the cold shooting.
The Bullets pushed the lead back to nine but it was Josh Love once again coming to the rescue, not allowing the game to get out of control. He connected on a layup to cut the lead to seven, giving him ten points in the half. A Nick Kerkorian three at the end of the half cut Gettysburg's lead to six points as the score sat at 28-22.
The first half stats were mainly in favor of the Bullets. Gettysburg completely dominated in the paint, registering seven blocks and out-rebounding Haverford 27-14. It wasn't exactly how Haverford wanted the first half to go, given how tight these two teams are in the conference standings at the late juncture of the season.
Kerkorian opened the scoring in the second half with a mid-range jumper, bringing the Bullets lead down to four, but Gettysburg immediately responded with their own jumper. Love then connected from deep to cut the lead to three points. Avery Close had it going in the second half for Gettysburg knocking down a jumper at the 19:16 mark and the 16:24 mark. Gettysburg then pushed the lead to 13 points after baskets from Jordan Stafford, Carl Schaller, and Colin Farrell, forcing Haverford to take a timeout with 14:16 left in the game.
Haverford are no stranger to comebacks this season and they were in need of another in this matchup. The Fords were able to cut the lead to ten in the final two minutes giving them hope for one final run. However, it wasn't meant to be. Gettysburg was just too strong in the second half. The Bullets shot 47.9 percent from the field and eventually won the rebounding battle 46-24. Love finished the game with 18 points while Kerkorian finished with 13. Torres was the next leading scorer for the Fords with 11 points.
The Fords will look to bounce back in a midweek matchup at No. 17 Swarthmore on Wednesday, February 16. The game is set to start at 8 p.m. as part of a doubleheader that will see the women's team also play Swarthmore at 6 p.m.