HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's basketball team (4-18,1-14 CC) was handed a home loss by Muhlenberg (8-14,7-8 CC) Tuesday evening, inside Gooding '84 Arena, falling by an 82-65 final.
The opening 10 minutes of the game was a true back-and-forth battle, as both teams were knotted 11-11 with 9:53 to go in the first half. Luke Gordos posted four points in the stretch for the Mules, while Haverford's Gabriel Franklin contributed five points.
The next five minutes of the first-half saw Muhlenberg begin to pull away from the Fords, outscoring the hosts 13-7, to take a 24-18 lead with 5:05 left in the opening half. The Mules drained three triples from three different players in the span, while Giovanni Rubino rattled off seven points.
Down by six with just over five minutes to go in the first-half, the Scarlet and Black began to chip away at the Muhlenberg lead, and outpaced the Mules 10-7 to head into halftime down just 31-28. First-year guard Gaven Marr dropped six of the final 10 points for the Fords, while Franklin added the other four points in the positive stretch.
At the half-time break, Franklin of Haverford led all scorers on the floor with 12 points, while Muhlenberg's Rubino trailed behind Franklin with 11 points of his own. Entering the second half, Logan Brown of the Fords was on the hunt for his fourth double-double of the season, as the first-year forward had six points and six rebounds at the break.
The beginning six minutes of the second stanza saw the visitors race out to a 13-8 scoring run, to hold a 44-36 advantage over the Scarlet and Black with 13:42 left in the ballgame. The scoring stretch saw four different scorers find the bottom of the basket for the Mules, while Gordos tallied seven more points to the stat sheet. Franklin quietly continued his big night, adding an additional five points to his total.
Coming out of a Haverford timeout, the teams went basket for basket for over six-and-a-half minutes, with Muhlenberg pulling away with a five-point edge to go up 64-51 over the Fords with 7:13 remaining in the matchup. The momentum-shifting run for the Mules saw six different players make baskets, while Rubino posted another six points. Keeping the Fords alive in the contest were Ali Kaan Bek and Zach Perry, who both knocked down three-pointers.
Out of a Muhlenberg timeout, the Scarlet and Black then went on another 10-7 run to trim the lead down to 10, trailing 71-61 with 3:05 to go in the second half. Three-pointers from Franklin and Perry, as well as four points from Brown, gave the hosts some momentum for the final three minutes and change.
Muhlenberg was able to hover around a 10-point gap for the remainder of the contest, before pulling comfortably away from the Fords to win the contest 82-65.
Gordos ended up being the leading scorer in the game contributing 22 points for the Mules, while Rubino finished with 17 points.
For Haverford, Franklin led the way with 20 points, while Brown was able to secure his fourth career double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Senior Brandon Banadda paced all players on the floor with six assists.
Saturday, February 10 is the alumni game for Haverford men's basketball starting at 10 a.m., followed by a matchup with the 20th-ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays at 1 p.m. Haverford will honor seniors Brandon Banadda, Clay Killoren, Nicholas Stewart, Gabriel Franklin, and Will Hatfield in a pregame ceremony prior to the 1 p.m. tip-off with the Blue Jays.