HAVERFORD, Pa. - The Haverford College men's basketball team (8-8, 4-5 CC) fell at home inside Gooding Arena, coming up short in a matchup with visitors Franklin & Marshall (5-9, 2-4 CC) on Saturday by a final score of 71-57. The Fords battled in the second half after initially being down by three at halftime at halftime. Still, it wasn't enough to take down the visitors. The Fords were led by Gabriel Franklin, who scored 15 points and collected five steals. The team also received solid scoring contributions from Ryan Trotter (10), Jackson Ryan (8), and Harry Johnson (8) on the afternoon.
It was a slow start from the Fords, who found themselves down for the final 17 minutes of the first half. The Diplomats built an eight-point lead midway through the first, so Haverford had an uphill battle to climb, but climb they did. With F&M trying their hardest to extend the lead, the Fords simply wouldn't go away. A three from Ryan with 5:07 remaining in the half cut the Diplomats lead to one. The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the half, but Franklin & Marshall was able to take a three-point cushion into halftime.
Despite being down at halftime, many positives could be taken from Haverford's first-half performance. The team forced F&M into 13 turnovers and scored 16 points off those miscues. However, it was in the moments where the Diplomats could take care of the ball that they capitalized in the opening stanza.
The Fords could do little to slow down F&M in the early goings of the second half. The teams continued to trade baskets, with the lead for the Diplomats consistently hovering around four points. The Fords were forced to call a timeout midway through the second half after F&M went on a run to push the lead to eight at 51-43.
With the Fords needing a run of their own, trailing 58-48 with seven minutes remaining, the Diplomats were intent on seeing out the game. Haverford worked for every basket, starting with a driving layup from Ryan Trotter to cut the lead down to eight yet again. However, a layup from John Seidman pushed the visitors ead back to ten. Despite the efforts, Franklin & Marshall finished off the Fords in the remaining four minutes after pushing the lead to 14. The lead reached its apex of 16 with 2:09 to play.
Each of the F&M starters tallied in double figures, paced by 19 from Omar Nichols as he recorded a trio of three-pointers.
On Thursday, the Fords will look to bounce back in the return game against Washington College at 6 p.m. inside Gooding '84 Arena. The contest will be followed by the women's team taking on the Shorewomen at 8 p.m.