HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team continued to defend its home court to perfection with a 63-53 victory against Franklin & Marshall on Wednesday. The win ran the Fords' (12-4, 7-2 CC) home record to a perfect 9-0 on the year as Haverford completed a season sweep of the Diplomats (7-9, 3-6 CC) for the first time in program history. Haverford's nine straight wins inside Gooding Arena is the program's longest streak since February of 2005, which was just a few short months before the Gardner Integrated Athletic Center opened in the fall of that same year.
Balanced scoring continued to rule the day for the Fords as six different players scored at least six points. Jesse Turkson led those efforts with 11 points, while Josh Love joined him in double figures 10 points off the bench. The teams shot similar percentages overall from the field, but Haverford held the visiting Diplomats to just 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. Both teams made 20 trips to the charity stripe, but Haverford came away with 17 points in those attempts while the Diplomats converted just 12 free throws.
Both defenses were up to the challenge early in this Centennial Conference battle, but it was the Fords that raced out to an early lead by scoring eight of the first 10 points. Three-pointers from Turkson and Jonathan Lang got Haverford's offense started before the Diplomats took one of their few leads in the contest with of triple of their own from Justin Kupa who finished with a game-high 18 points.
The two sides traded the lead back and forth four times during a four-minute span before Justin Heidig's jumper put Haverford ahead by a 15-14 score. That basket got a 9-0 Haverford run underway, during which four different Fords got to the basket. Leading 22-14 after that outburst, F&M cut its deficit down to a single point in the closing minutes of the half before the Fords carried a 28-25 lead into the locker rooms.
Franklin & Marshall took its final lead of the contest just over three minutes into the second half as one of the team's few threes gave the visitors a 33-30 advantage. Nevertheless, the Fords were quick to respond with a brief 6-0 spurt. Featurning four points from Love, that run gave the hosts a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.
Haverford's lead maxed out at 10 points on four occasions, including the final score, during the last 10 minutes of game action. A three-pointer from Lang gave Haverford a 47-37 edge with 9:43 to play. Following that double-digit advantage, F&M was unable to come within a single possession for the remainder of regulation. The closest F&M came down the stretch was a four-point edge, 49-45, with just over five minutes to play. However, another three-pointer from Joe Wujciak stopped that 5-0 skid. Haverford left nothing to chance down the stretch as the Fords converted 11 of their 12 free throws over the final three minutes to secure the 63-53 win.
The Fords certainly made the most of F&M's 17 turnovers as they held a 20-13 advantage in points off of turnovers and 18-7 edge in fast break points. Crisp passing in transition certainly helped that cause of 15 of Haverford's 20 baskets were assisted. Wujciak dished out six assists to go along with his nine points, while Jackson Ryan finished with five helpers.
Currently sitting in third place in the Centennial Conference standings, the Fords will welcome No. 15 and second-place Johns Hopkins to Gooding Arena this Saturday, January 25 for a 3 p.m. tip. That game will be preceded by the women's team taking on Bryn Mawr at 1 p.m.