SWARTHMORE, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team (5-20, 2-11 CC) saw a ferocious comeback fall just short, as Hood Trophy rival Swarthmore (17-8, 9-4 CC) defeated the Fords 103-97 on Saturday afternoon under the lights of Tarble Pavilion on the campus of Swarthmore College.
The first five minutes of the contest saw the Fords take a small 11-8 lead, as Haverford was lighting it up from three. Carter Warren, Derin Ongur, and Christian Uremovich all hit early shots from deep. However, after going on a 6-2 scoring run to make it 17-10, the Garnet battled back, trimming the lead to 17-15 with 11:32 to go in the opening half. Up by just two after a much-needed timeout, the Scarlet and Black outscored Swarthmore 11-8 to take a 28-23 lead with 8:20 flashing on the scoreboard. During that stretch, the Fords went 4-of-8 from the field, with five different scorers finding the bottom of the bucket, highlighted by Ian Hochman, who sank his first triple of the day.
Unfortunately for the Scarlet and Black, Swarthmore began to find an offensive groove, going on an 8-2 scoring run to claim their first lead of the game, 31-30, with 6:09 to go in the first half. The Garnet shot 50 percent from the field and 50 percent from three during the run, with Matt Mulvey draining one of their two three-point attempts. Swarthmore ended the half on a big 20-7 scoring run, taking a 51-37 advantage into the halftime break. During that momentum-shifting run, Swarthmore went 7-of-12 from the field and an impressive 4-of-6 from three, with Mulvey adding eight more points to his first-half tally.
At the half, Mulvey led all scorers with 13 points, while teammate Cal Hanson scored 11. For Haverford, Uremovich and Gaven Marr each dropped seven points.
Swarthmore opened up the second half on a 20-12 run that lasted just over six minutes, taking a commanding 71-49 lead with 13:33 to go in the game. Brady Kageyama scored six points during that stretch for the Garnet, while Logan Brown and Harry Johnson combined for seven of the 12 points for the Fords. Swarthmore continued to tack on the points in the next four-and-a-half-minute span, holding a 83-58 lead.
A 10-0 scoring run for the Scarlet and Black put the Fords right back into the game, as Haverford took advantage of the charity stripe, connecting on 5-of-8 free throws to trail 83-68 with just 5:46 remaining in the matchup. The Fords continued battling back, cutting the lead to just 89-78, as Hochman once again lit it up from behind the three-point arc, draining two more triples for the Scarlet and Black during a 10-6 scoring run.
A rejuvenated Haverford team continued to chip away at the rival's lead, as a 7-2 scoring run brought the game to within just a six-point gap, 91-85, with only 1:15 left. Marr put up five more points during that stretch, including three free throws from the charity stripe.
The Scarlet and Black continued to hover around a six-point deficit in the final minute, as both teams combined for a remarkable 24 points. Senior Luke Phillips took over, scoring seven of the final 12 points for the Fords. Despite Haverford's courageous effort, which brought the game down to just a two-point margin, the Garnet went 12-of-13 from the free-throw line, shutting down the Fords' hopes of a historical comeback and claiming a 103-97 victory.
In his final game of his Haverford career, Phillips dropped a season-high 22 points to lead all scorers. The Fords finished with six players in double figures, with Hochman recording a season-high 11 points. The Scarlet and Black ended the fierce battle by shooting 43 percent from the field and 30 percent from three.
The hard-fought matchup with Swarthmore officially ends the 2024-2025 season, which saw the Fords improve both their regular season and conference win totals from a season ago. Haverford will have plenty to build upon, as sights now turn to the 2025-2026 season.