SWARTHMORE, Pa. - The Haverford College men's basketball team (2-4, 1-1 CC) fell short to Swarthmore (6-1, 2-0 CC), a team receiving votes in the latest D3Hoops.com poll, in a back-and-forth 63-58 battle inside Tarble Pavilion on Tuesday evening.
Ryan Trotter had a breakout game for Haverford, pouring in 19 points on a 7-for-13 shooting night, adding seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Nate Torres continued his impressive start to the season with a 15-point performance.
Swarthmore led wire-to-wire in the first half, although the Fords never let the Garnet pull away in the first 20 minutes. The hosts took a 29-16 lead with 5:18 to go in the opening frame following a transition layup from Eddie Paquette, but Haverford rallied with a 9-0 run to pull back to within four as Torres converted a pair from the free-throw line. Trotter drilled a three-pointer just before the buzzer as Swarthmore held just a three-point advantage at 31-28 entering the intermission.
The Fords continued the momentum from the big run down the stretch into the second half, as the run hit 16-2 as the visitors were firing on all cylinders to begin play in the period. Josh Love keyed the stretch with a pair of triples, and Trotter put a big exclamation mark on the spurt with a three-point play, connecting on a layup and tacking on a free-throw as Haverford suddenly looked in command, holding a 41-33 lead with just under 16 minutes remaining in regulation.
Haverford continued to hold a three possession lead with Torres knocking down a layup with 11:33 to play. Trotter answered a Swarthmore salvo with a big three that came with 10:05 to go, but Paquette answered from three-point land to trim the lead to just two at 8:08 to go. Swarthmore tied things with Michael Caprise connecting from the free-throw line at 52-52 with 7:28 to go, but another three-point play from Trotter gave Haverford a lead at 55-52 with 5:48 remaining.
The two sides traded baskets and trips to the charity stripe, but after a fruitless trip down the court for Haverford, Vinny D'Angelo knocked down a three-pointer to put Swarthmore ahead 59-56 with 1:13 to go. Trotter yet again cut that advantage down to just one as he broke free for a layup with under a minute left, but Caprise hit a runner to restore the three-point lead for the Garnet.
Haverford had a chance to tie things, but the Garnet defense came up huge, grabbing possession up three with 12 seconds to play, and finishing out the contest from the free-throw line to prevail by the thinnest of margins in the rivalry series contest.
Swarthmore held a narrow edge on the glass (38-34), but Haverford shot better from the field (40 percent to 39.7 percent). The contest featured five ties and two lead changes, but neither side held a larger advantage than Swarthmore's brief 13-point cushion in the first half. Swarthmore capitalized on miscues with 16 points off turnovers as D'Angelo added a game-best 20 points.
Haverford will return to action on Saturday, taking on Franklin & Marshall inside Gooding Arena. The Fords and Diplomats will tip off at approximately 3 p.m. as the contest is the second of a doubleheader with the Haverford women taking on F&M at 1 p.m.