Host Haverford College held off a late charge by visiting Washington College to post a 78-75 Centennial Conference men’s basketball victory tonight in Haverford, PA. The Fords improved to 10-9 overall and 7-6 in conference play with the win, while the Shoremen fell to 6-14 and 5-8 with the loss.
The Fords built a 34-27 halftime lead after holding the Shoremen to 11-of-34 shooting from the field, including 0-for-8 shooting from three-point range in the opening period.
Haverford held a 40-30 lead with 16:55 left in the second half before the Shoremen went on a 10-1 run, capped off by a fast-break lay-up by sophomore forward Chris Soper (Poolesville, MD/Poolesville) with 13:00 left, to cut the lead to one at 41-40. The Fords answered by scoring 11 of the next 14 points to push the lead to 52-43 on a free throw by Sam Permutt with 9:46 to play.
Haverford maintained a lead of at least four points until Washington junior guardSal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) knocked down a three-pointer with 1:56 to go to pull the Shoremen within three at 72-69. On the Shoremen’s next possession, sophomore forward Charlie McShane (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) hit one of two free throws with 1:11 left to cut the margin to 72-70. Louis Cipriano answered with a bucket for the Fords to increase the lead to 74-70, but Schittino converted a lay-up with 48.2 seconds to go to make it 74-72. Cipriano was called for a travel on Haverford’s next possession, giving the ball back to the Shoremen with 46.3 left. Washington junior guard Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) converted a lay-up and was fouled with 43.2 left, tying the score at 74-74. Breslin missed the free throw and the ball went out of bounds to Haverford.
After the timeout, Ian Goldberg drove in for a lay-up for the Fords, giving them a 76-74 advantage with 25 seconds to go. Washington junior forward Chris Olsen(Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) was fouled on the Shoremen’s next possession, but missed the first of two free throws as Haverford clung to a 76-75 lead with 17.9 left. Cipriano was fouled on the next possession and made both free throws to give Haverford a 78-75 cushion with 10.7 to go. A three-pointer by Breslin in the final seconds and another by freshman guard Donovan Womack(Newark, DE/Delcastle) at the buzzer both missed as Haverford held on for the win.
Permutt led all scorers with 25 points for the Fords, shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. He also hauled down nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Cam Baker added 23 points for Haverford, while Goldberg chipped in 11 points.
Breslin totaled team highs of 16 points and six rebounds and game highs of five assists and three steals in the loss. Schittino added 15 points, while Olsen finished with a career-best 13.
Haverford shot 49% from the field and 77% from the free-throw line in the game to Washington’s 39% and 61%, respectively. The Fords also held a 44-33 advantage on the boards. The Shoremen stayed in the game by forcing 18 turnovers and committing only 10.
The Shoremen return to action Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game at Dickinson.
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