HAVERFORD, Pa. – The Haverford College men's basketball team (5-15, 2-6 CC) fell to Centennial Conference rival Swarthmore (14-6, 6-2 CC) in a 79-68 defeat. The matchup marked the first of two meetings between the schools in the historic Hood Trophy Rivalry.
Swarthmore came out hot, opening the game with an 8-0 run in the first 3:15, highlighted by three-pointers from Cal Hanson and Eddie Paquette and a jumper from Zander Jimenez. Haverford responded with an 8-2 stretch of its own, cutting the deficit to two at the 14:39 mark.
Logan Brown eventually knotted the game at 10-10, before the Garnet answered back with a 10-0 scoring stretch to push their lead back up to 10 points, 20-10, with 10:56 remaining in the opening half. The run was capped off by two consecutive triples from Devin Burger, prompting a Haverford timeout. The next four-and-a-half minutes saw the teams trade baskets, with the Scarlet and Black outscoring the visitors 9-7, bringing the Swarthmore lead down to single digits at 27-19 with 5:28 to go. In this fairly even stretch, the Fords saw several different scorers contribute, including Brown, Uremovich, Carter Warren, and Ian Hochman, all finding the bottom of the basket.
The Fords made a strong push late in the half, using a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to just one (27-26) with 2:50 to go, thanks to baskets from Adam Strong-Jacobson and Gaven Marr. However, Swarthmore answered with a 7-0 stretch of its own, taking a 34-26 lead into halftime.
At the half, Paquette led all scorers with 10 first-half points, while Brown and Harry Johnson paced the Fords with five points each.
The first five minutes of the second half saw Haverford edge out Swarthmore 9-6, cutting the visitors' advantage to 40-35 with 15:05 remaining. The opening run of the second half was highlighted by four points from Logan Brown and a three-pointer from Alex George. Over the next several minutes, both teams went basket for basket, with Swarthmore narrowly outscoring the Scarlet and Black 15-14, to cling to a 55-49 advantage with just 7:04 to go. The even-paced run saw three-pointers from Warren, Brown, and Uremovich, with Uremovich putting up seven clutch points to keep the Fords within five points.
The Garnet kept their foot on the gas as the second half ticked down, maintaining an eight-point buffer as Swarthmore led 68-60 with 2:35 remaining. Jimenez began to take over the game during the final five minutes, scoring eight of the 13 points for the visitors. Unfortunately for Haverford, the gap was too much to overcome with only minutes remaining, and vital free throws from Paquette secured a 79-68 victory for the Garnet.
Swarthmore finished the contest with four scorers in double figures, as Jimenez and Paquette led the charge with 16 points each, while Hanson put up 13 points and Burger ended the contest with 12. As for the Fords, Uremovich scored 15 points, marking his second-highest total of the season, to lead all Haverford scorers. Also reaching double figures for the Fords was Brown, who finished the game with 13 points.
Men's basketball will wrap up their short two-game homestand on Saturday, February 8, as the Green Terror of McDaniel square off against the Fords inside Gooding '84 Arena at 2 p.m. The game will serve as the annual Play with Pride match in collaboration with Haverford's Play with Pride Club, supporting LGBTQ+ inclusion at Haverford and throughout collegiate athletics.
