CHESTERTOWN, Md. - The Haverford College men's basketball team (4-16, 1-12 CC) came up short in a hard-fought battle to Centennial Conference counterpart Washington College (4-16, 2-11 CC) 51-44, inside Penny J. Fall Gymnasium Wednesday.
Following a 68-53 victory in the early part of the season, Haverford looked to complete their first Centennial Conference sweep of the season.
The opening nine minutes of the contest was a struggle for both teams; however, it was the Shoremen who found the upperhand early, outpacing the Fords 7-3. The Shoremen shot 3-of-8 from the field in the stretch, including five points from Kedrick Frink to gain the small four-point advantage with 11:05 to go in the half.
Following a three-pointer from WAC's Jack Swider to increase the Shoremen lead to 10-3, the Fords started to find a rhythm, jumping out to a 7-3 scoring run of their own to knot the game at 10 points each with 7:57 remaining in the first half. The Scarlet and Black used a 3-of-4 shooting display that included a Gaven Marr triple to answer the impressive start from Washington College.
The first-half was truly a battle of scoring runs, as the Shoremen sent another haymaker the Fords way, racing out to a 9-3 scoring stretch, to take a 19-13 lead over Haverford. Frink continued to be the most consistent scorer on the floor, tacking on six more points to fuel the second scoring span of the half for Washington College.
Frink added two more points off a jump shot with 36 seconds left, as the Shoremen headed into half-time in the driver's seat, up 21-13. Frink led all scorers with 13 points at the break, while Marr's eight points were a team-high for the Scarlet and Black.
The second-half started out as a back-and-forth encounter, with the road team edging out the hosts 13-10, to trim the WAC lead down to 31-26 with 12:29 left in the contest. The Fords knocked down three of their first four shots from behind the three-point arc, as Nicholas Stewart sank two shots from deep and senior guard Gabriel Franklin splashed in a triple of his own.
Following a much-needed timeout from the Shoremen, both teams continued to trade buckets, with the guests outscoring the hosts 8-6, to trail by just three, 37-34, with 6:54 left in the closing half. The Scarlet and Black continued to find the bottom of the basket in the stretch, making 3-of-4 from the field, with Logan Brown producing four of the eight points.
The next three-and-a-half minutes saw Haverford yet again engaged in a narrow scoring battle, outpacing Washington College 6-4, to pull within a one-point deficit at 37-36. Stewart tallied four more points in the small yet effective run.
With 3:05 to go in half number two, WAC scored four unanswered points to gain some breathing room from the Fords, leading the visitors 45-40 with just 100 seconds remaining. Frink, who was having a career night, tossed in all four points in the momentous run.
After a string of misses for Haverford, Zack Skrocki drilled a dagger of a three-pointer to take a commanding 48-40 lead with just 38 seconds to go. The eight-point gap proved to be the difference-maker in the contest, as a series of free-throws helped the Shoremen pick up the 51-44 victory.
Frink paced all scorers with a season-high 32 points, and was the only Washington College player to reach double-digit scoring. The Fords had three scorers reach double figures, as Stewart's season-high of 16 points led all Haverford players. Brown also put in an extraordinary performance, rattling off 11 points and pulling down a season-high 16 rebounds.
The Scarlet and Black now return home, as they host the Gettysburg Bullets on Saturday, February 3, at 3 p.m.
Saturday will also mark Ardmore Hoops Day. Ardmore Hoops is a youth program that welcomes children from around the area to Gooding '84 Arena, where they will learn basketball skills and drills from Haverford student-athletes.
The initiative was started by senior guard Gabriel Franklin for the 2023-24 season. The youngsters of Ardmore Hoops will be participating in a five-minute game during half-time of the Fords and Bullets game.