LANCASTER, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team overcame what has been a house of horrors for the Fords with a convincing 82-66 victory at Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday evening. The Fords' (5-1, 2-0 CC) win over the Diplomats (2-4, 0-2 CC) was their first victory at Franklin & Marshall since 1977 as the Fords had won in Lancaster just four times previous to tonight.
Overall, tonight's victory marked Haverford's first against F&M since the 2012-13 season. Haverford has now picked up its first two conference victories of the season against Centennial Conference Tournament qualifiers from a year ago. Combined with the women's team, which is also 2-0 in CC action, Haverford is the only remaining Centennial Conference school that is undefeated in conference play on both the men's and women's sides.
Haverford shot nearly 56% for the night, including a 59.1% mark from the field during the second half as the Fords were up just three, 41-38, at the break. A complete team effort continues to provide strong results for Haverford as four different players reached double figures in the win. Jesse Turkson led the way with 21 points, while Jonathan Lang just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Joe Wujciak and Joe Hartman contributed 16 and 15 points, respectively. The Diplomats shot 42.9% from beyond the arc to stay in the contest, but the stifling Haverford defense limited the hosts to just 14 other baskets from the field and just 14 attempts from the charity stripe.
The first half saw the teams trade the lead eight times during the back-and-forth opening minutes. The Fords' largest lead of the opening half was a six-point edge after four straight points from Josh Love. The Diplomats did rally to take the lead behind their three-point shooting late in the first half, but consecutive layups from Wujciak and Lang during the final minute of the half gave the Fords the edge heading into the break.
Franklin & Marshall knotted the game at 41-all with another trey to start the second half, but that tie would not last for long as the Fords ran off 10 straight points and never relinquished their advantage for the rest of the night. The duo of Wujciak and Lang combined for all 10 of those points as Lang's triple set the score at 51-41 with just over two minutes gone by in the second half. The Diplomats attempted a comeback midway through the half and had Haverford's lead down to just six points, 62-56, with 8:42 remaining in regulation.
Not wanting to let F&M get any closer, head coach Patrick Doherty called for a timeout. His team responded in a big way with a 6-0 run that featured four points from Turkson. Haverford's lead crept under 10 just once the rest of the way, but the Fords held F&M without a basket for over four minutes during a 12-0 run that extended the lead to 20 points. Fittingly enough, five different players scored during that final punctuation on the Centennial Conference victory. The only remaining offense for the Diplomats was a pair of layups in the final minute to make the contest an 82-66 final.
Haverford did a number of things well on Wednesday evening, but no advantage was more glaring than the Fords' 48-22 advantage on points in the paint. Haverford also held 11-3 and 10-2 margins in second chance and fast break points. The Fords turned the ball over just 12 times while also coming up with nine steals on the defensive end. Wujciak led those efforts with three takeaways while Turkson and Jack Cork both turned away two shots via blocks in the paint.
Men's basketball will look to keep its momentum rolling as the Fords head to Dickinson this Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip in Carlisle. That matchup with the Red Devils will be part of a doubleheader as the women's team is set for a 2 p.m. start.