HAVERFORD, PA - Jeremy Bass drained 12-of-14 from the field and six-of-six at the free throw line for 31 points while Mark Gabriel connected on 11-of-17 and seven-of-nine at the charity stripe as Haverford College stunned #23 Franklin & Marshall College 90-86 in Centennial Conference men's basketball.
The win marks Haverford's first against the Diplomats since a 70-68 defeat of F&M 1977 Middle Atlantic Conference Southern Division semifinals and the first regular season win over Franklin & Marshall since a 68-67 win during the 1968-69 season.
Further, the loss snaps a 27 game win streak by Franklin & Marshall over Haverford and drops the Diplomats record to 57-11 over the Fords as F&M handled Haverford 89-78 in the Mayser Center on December 4.
Haverford jumped out to an early lead in the game and never looked back as Johnny Elefterakis hit a three pointer with 17:44 left in the first half for a 10-2 lead. The Diplomats chipped away at the margin before center Dan Lynch (Sr., Richboro, PA/Council Rock) hit a jumper to put F&M in front 20-19 with 11:12 until intermission.
The teams exchanged baskets for ties at 24-24 and 28-28 before Bass through down a dunk off a pass from Matt Stein to ignite an 8-0 run as the Fords carried a 45-37 lead into halftime.
In the second half, F&M cut the lead to three points at 53-50 as Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) stroked a three-pointer, but Haverford's Mike Kelly countered with a three pointer to keep the Fords ahead by six with 16:32 left on the game clock.
Haverford pushed the lead out to 10 points at 64-54 with 14:25 before F&M began to rally and cut the lead.
Down four at 70-66 with 9:05 left on the clock, Brandon Smith (Jr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) pulled the Diplomats to within one at 70-69 as he hit four straight free throws, but Kelly connected on a three-pointer to put the Fords in front 73-69 with 8:03 to go.
Leading 76-72 with 4:57 following a free throw by Gabriel, the Diplomats rallied as Logan Outerbridge (So., Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) drilled a three-pointer to pull F&M to within 76-75 with 4:32 left.
Jason Polykoff hit a jumper to push the lead back to three points, but Wright converted a lay-up to move the margin back to a point at 78-77 with 3:46 left.
The lead swayed from three to five points over the next three minutes before Outerbridge drilled a three-pointer to pull F&M to within 86-84 with 54 seconds left on the clock.
However, Elefterakis hit a three with 25 seconds left and Gabriel made a free throw for the winning margin.
For Haverford, Kelly finished with 11 points while Elefterakis added nine points and 10 assists.
Smith led F&M with 23 points, nine rebounds and three steals, while Teschke added 15 points, Lynch 17 points and Outerbridge 11 points.
Franklin & Marshall (11-5, 6-3 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on January 26 at Johns Hopkins University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
