RADNOR, Pa.- The Haverford College Men's Basketball team (4-6) claimed a non-conference victory in the final game of their 2023 slate, conquering Cabrini (3-9) 75-56, inside Nerney Field House on Saturday afternoon.
The opening minutes of the game saw both teams trade buckets back-and-forth, as Haverford looked impressive from the get-go going 5-8 from the field, and 2-3 from three-point land, to give the Fords a 13-11 advantage with 14:06 to go in the first half. In the near six-minute stretch, Nick Klaiber rattled off five points, while Cabrini's Jayden Blakey totaled four points.
Tied at 15-15 with 12:16 left in the first stanza, both squads went scoreless for nearly four-and-a-half minutes until a Klaiber pull-up jumper broke the scoreless stretch, and gave the Scarlet and Black a 17-15 lead.
The Fords started to catch fire again from deep, as treys from Gabriel Franklin and Nicholas Stewart helped Haverford push away from the Cavaliers 23-17 with 6:27 to go in the first half.
A free-throw from Klaiber and a three-ball from Franklin pushed the Scarlet and Black's advantage to 27-17, the biggest lead for either team at that moment.
Down 29-19 with just about four minutes to go in the opening half, Cabrini fired off a 9-4 run to trim Haverford's lead down to trail by just three at 31-28. In the scoring stretch Eric Neal of the Cavaliers dropped four points, while a Keenan Reiss three-pointer gave Cabrini some momentum heading into half-time.
At the half, Franklin led all scorers with 11 points, while Logan Brown and Klaiber both contributed eight points each for the Scarlet and Black. The Cavaliers were led by Neal, who finished the half with six points.
Franklin opened up the scoring in half number two for the Fords, going up 33-28, before Reiss quickly answered with a layup to bring the lead back to 33-30. Cabrini then moved out to a 4-1 scoring run to knot the game at 34-34 with 17:21 to go in the contest.
Deadlocked with the Cavaliers at 34- all, the Fords then began to push away from Cabrini, going on a 12-0 scoring for over five minutes, to go up 46-34 with 12:05 remaining. In the scoring stretch, Haverford was bolstered by five points from Brandon Banadda and five points (including a triple) from Ali Kaan Bek.
Five unanswered points by the Cavaliers stemming from another Blakey basket, and a three-pointer from Donoven Mack helped pull Cabrini within seven points, 46-39, with 11:29 to go in the game.
However, the threes started to rain down once again for the Fords, as back-to-back triples from Franklin and Stewart pushed the Fords' advantage to 13, leading 52-39 with 10:23 left.
Made baskets by Franklin, Banadda, and Klaiber helped increase the Haverford lead 60-43, before jump shots from Mack, and London Pope brought the Scarlet and Black lead back down to just 13 at 60-47 with 6:47 to go in the game.
The Fords ended the contest with a 15-9 scoring run that saw six different Haverford players find the bottom of the net, including the first two points of the season from senior Will Hatfield.
A 44-28 second half propelled Haverford to the victory, as the Fords shot 51.5 percent from the field, 57.1 percent from three-point land, and 60 percent from the charity stripe.
Leading the way for Haverford was Franklin who dropped 21 points on the day, and shot an impressive 5-of-7 from three. Brown also had a notable performance, as he captured a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Mack paced all Cavaliers in points with 13 points and five rebounds.
With another win under their belt, the Fords will head out to Lancaster, Pa. on Wednesday, January 3, to take on Lancaster Bible in their first game of the 2024 portion of the schedule. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.