COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. - In a midweek Centennial Conference showdown, the Haverford College men's basketball team (11-8, 7-5 CC) came away with a crucial road victory over host Ursinus (10-7, 7-5 CC) on Wednesday evening, prevailing by a 77-68 final in a back-and-forth contest that helped solidify Haverford's spot in a three-way tie for the third spot in the Centennial Conference playoff chase. The instant classic featured 16 lead changes and eight ties as the game went down to the wire, with both teams charged up in front of a crowd of over 300 at Helfferich Hall.
Nate Torres continued his strong stretch with 21 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Fords, also tallying five assists, two steals, and a block in a commanding showing from the junior. Harry Johnson also tallied in double digits, with 14 points to his ledger on the night. The Haverford bench was a crucial component, adding 20 points in the triumph.
The Fords jetted out to the early lead, rallying to the tune of a 10-4 advantage out of the opening gates, prompting Ursinus into a timeout to regroup. The Bears came back out and immediately rushed into a 6-0 spurt with Peyton Vostenak converting on back-to-back three pointers to knot things with 15:06 to play in the first. The two teams then traded buckets, with Gabriel Franklin tying the score at 20-20 before Ryan Trotter connected from downtown to give the Fords a three-point cushion with just 8:41 to play. Ursinus again had a response, with Vostenak proving his mettle with another trey that came with 4:49 remaining in the first. Nicholas Stewart put the Fords up by one with a three in response, and Sean Neylon later connected from deep to put the Bears up by four as the teams traded long-range salvo in succession.
Ursinus took a four-point cushion into halftime, but Haverford immediately whittled that lead down and took the lead back on Johnson's triple with 17:21 to play. Vostenak had another answer, but a Charlie Mamlin three with 15:39 left in regulation gave Haverford back the lead yet again.
A period of both teams trading buckets with neither team able to gain much separation was interrupted with 3:18 to play as Torres connected from downtown. Now with a two-possession lead, Haverford was hungry for more as Johnson tallied on the next offensive play to give the Fords a late five-point lead. Torres then connected on a step-back jumper that put Haverford up by seven with 2:04 to go. In a battle between hot-shooting teams, Haverford's closeout defense helped seal things as a last-ditch three-point attempt from Neylon fell short, allowing the Fords to take a four-point lead into a timeout with 48 seconds to play. From that point, Ursinus was trading points for possessions as Torres calmly hit his free throws and collected a key steal in the final moments to earn a return trip to the charity stripe.
Haverford knocked down 14 three-pointers, and actually shot better from beyond the arc (43.8 percent) than from the field at large (42.9). The rebounding advantage went the way of the Fords to the tune of a 39-34 overall margin.
The victory was Haverford's second consecutive win in Collegeville, as the Fords also turned away the Bears in the January 2020 matchup. The Fords will now return to action on Saturday, heading into a showdown at No. 19 Johns Hopkins. The contest with the Blue Jays is slated for 1 p.m. and will be followed by the Haverford women taking on JHU at approximately 3 p.m.