HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's basketball team (2-5, 1-2 CC) was upended by visiting Franklin & Marshall (5-2, 2-1 CC), falling by an 83-70 final score inside Gooding Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Fords registered four scorers in double figures, with Josh Love knocking down a game-high 14 points on the afternoon. Harry Johnson narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds, while Ryan Trotter (12 points), Nick Kerkorian (10 points), and Nate Torres (10 points all played a key role. F&M was paced by 23 points from Omar Nichols, to lead four in double figures. John Seidman notched 17 points and seven rebounds.
Haverford sprinted out to an 18-13 lead to begin play, with Ryan Trotter and Harry Johnson each impressing in the early goings as the Fords seemingly had an answer for each Franklin & Marshall spurt. Haverford extended the lead to 22-13 with 10:53 remaining in the first as Nate Torres connected on a layup, but F&M responded to trim that lead back to within three with a 6-0 run. Haverford then responded with a 5-0 run, and Nicholas Stewart later knocked down a runner for a 31-23 lead with 5:35 remaining.
The lead hit 10 as Trotter converted with 3:25 to go, and the Fords were ahead by 11 as Torres knocked down a pair of free throws with under three minutes left in the stanza. A 5-0 spurt from the Diplomats was punctuated by a Mark Suchy triple, as Haverford headed into the intermission up by just five.
A 6-2 run out of the halftime gates, fueled by a pair of triples from Omar Nichols, tied the score at 42-42. Haverford briefly took the lead back with back-to-back treys from Jackson Ryan and Josh Love, but two three-pointers from John Seidman and Nicholas then tied the score yet again, this time at 50-50 with 15:48 remaining in regulation.
With the contest knotted, Nick Kerkorian gave the Fords the lead with his three-pointer at 14:33 to go. Later in the stanza, Torres again was successful from three-point land, tying the score at 58-58 with under 11 to play.
The Diplomats then wrestled control of the game, unleashing a sustained 17-2 run to take a 75-60 lead with just four minutes remaining. Haverford struggled from deep in that stretch, with five misses from beyond the arc. Kerkorian ended the run with a three that came with 3:04 to go, and Trotter trimmed the lead back to 10 with 2:46 remaining, but forced to foul, The Fords were unable to trim much into the gap, as the visitors hit eight free throws in the final two minutes of action to seal the win.
Franklin & Marshall held a slight 37 to 35 edge on the glass, and shot over 50 percent from the field in the victory. The Fords notched 24 bench points, but the Diplomats surged to the victory with their second-half push.
The Fords now have a week off from action before wrapping up the semester with non-conference action on tap for Saturday, December 10 at Drew. The contest in Madison, N.J. is slated to begin at 2 p.m. as the Fords and Rangers do battle.