HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team (3-1) captured its third consecutive victory on Tuesday evening at Gooding '84 Arena, defeating the visiting Mighty Macs of Immaculata (0-4) by a final score of 83-72. A combination of sharp shooting from beyond the arc, timely defensive stops, and a balanced scoring effort secured a third consecutive win for the Fords.
Ali Kaan Bek led Haverford with 21 points, including three three-pointers. Carter Warren contributed 13 points on three triples, while seniors Luke Phillips and Harry Johnson added 10 and 11 points, respectively. Immaculata's Samuel Jankowski led his team with 13, but foul trouble plagued the Mighty Macs, with three players fouling out in a physical contest that featured 55 fouls.
Haverford came out firing in the first half, opening with a 9-2 run highlighted by a three-pointer from Phillips and a fast-break layup by Warren. Jankowski briefly halted the Fords' momentum with a layup, but Haverford's relentless transition game overwhelmed the visitors. A Derin Ongur triple extended the lead to 14-5, and Harry Johnson's three-pointer stretched it to 23-5 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Immaculata responded with a 15-2 run, sparked by Jankowski's dominance in the paint. He converted a three-point play and added a free throw, cutting Haverford's lead to just two possessions with 4:12 left in the half. Kaan Bek drilled four at the free-throw line before connecting from distance to restore a 10-point cushion at 32-22 with 2:24 to go, and Ongur broke things open again with a three that put the Fords up 13 with 1:53 remaining. Warren then connected from distance as Haverford was up 38-26 with under a minute before the halftime buzzer.
In the second half, Haverford looked poised to cruise after a quick 4-0 spurt. However, the play of Domenic Vacchiano and Ryan Straub kept Immaculata within striking distance, narrowing the deficit to 11 at the 15:31 mark. The Fords responded emphatically, led by Warren's back-to-back three-pointers and buckets from Centennial Conference Player of the Week Gaven Marr. A commanding 18-2 run, capped by a three from Sir William Morman III and a jumper from Bek, pushed the lead further to 62-34.
A 15-2 run from the visitors gave Immaculata some late life, as the Mighty Macs refused to go away. Vacchiano made a layup with just 3:51 showing on the game clock to cut the lead to 15, and another 10-2 run in the waning moments of the contest put the Mighty Macs back within single digits. The Fords did enough from the free-throw line to seal the game late.
Defensive tenacity was a hallmark of Haverford's performance, as the team tallied eight steals and five blocks. Seth Anderson anchored the paint with four rejections, and the Fords capitalized on Immaculata's miscues, scoring 25 points off turnovers. Despite pulling down 15 offensive rebounds, the Mighty Macs couldn't overcome Haverford's multi-faceted scoring attack, which featured four players in double figures and a 48% shooting effort from beyond the arc.
Haverford now returns to action on Saturday with another home game at Gooding Arena. The Fords will face Lancaster Bible College at 3 p.m. as part of a doubleheader, with the women's team taking on Rosemont at 1 p.m to begin the afternoon.