News Release

HAVERFORD, Pa. — Host Haverford College held off a late rally by visiting Washington College to post an 88-85 Centennial Conference men's basketball win over the Shoremen tonight in Haverford, PA. The Fords improved to 11-9 overall and 10-4 in conference play with the win, while the Shoremen slipped to 9-12 and 6-8 with the loss.

The Fords used a 10-0 run to take a 30-19 lead with 5:52 left in the first half. Haverford led by at least eight points the rest of the period and carried a 43-31 advantage into halftime.

The Fords led by 11 points, at 80-69, with 5:38 remaining in the second half before the Shoremen went on a 12-3 spurt to cut the lead to 83-81 on two free throws by junior guard Kyle Stem with 1:51 left in the second half. Johnny Elefterakis answered with a basket on the next Haverford possession, but a jumper by Washington sophomore forward Joe Breslin pulled the Shoremen back within two at 85-83 with 1:23 to go.

Mark Gabriel pushed the lead back to four at 87-83 with a jumper with 27 seconds left. Junior forward Jonathan Webb responded for the Shoremen with a jumper with 13 seconds to play to make it 87-85. Mike Kelly made one of two free throws with 10 seconds remaining to give the Fords a three-point lead at 88-85 and three-pointer by Washington junior guard Dustin Abbate in the final seconds fell short as Haverford held on for the win.

Gabriel led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Jeremy Bass added 23 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Elefterakis tallied 15 points, a game-high nine assists, and a team-high eight rebounds. Matt Stein finished with 11 points for Haverford.

Breslin led the Shoremen with 19 points and shared game-high rebounding honors with senior guard John "China" Alexander by collecting 10 boards. Alexander also tallied 13 points. Webb finished with 15 points and a game-high four steals, while Abbate contributed 11 points.

Haverford shot 49% from the field in the game, while Washington shot 42%. The Shoremen got hot in the second half, however, to get back in the game, connecting on 53% of their attempts from the field and hitting 8-of-14 three-point attempts in the final 20 minutes.

Newspaper Box Score
Washington College vs Haverford College
2/9/05 (Wed) 7:00PM at Haverford, PA - Alumni Fieldhouse
At Haverford, PA - Alumni Fieldhouse
HAVERFORD COLLEGE 88, WASHINGTON COLLEGE 85
WASHINGTON COLLEGE (9-12, 6-8 CC)
Joe Breslin 8-15 2-2 19; Jonathan Webb 6-17 1-1 15; John Alexander 5-8 3-3 13; Dustin Abbate 4-13 1-2 11; Kyle Stem 3-11 2-2 9; Andrew Gentile 3-6 0-0 8; Travis Moore 3-5 0-0 7; Drew Hill 1-2 0-0 3; Ryan Nielsen 0-1 0-0 0; Eric Blumenthal 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-79 9-10 85.
HAVERFORD COLLEGE (11-9, 10-4 CC)
Mark Gabriel 9-14 6-9 24; Jeremy Bass 10-14 3-4 23; Johnny Elefterakis 6-16 0-0 15; Matt Stein 5-11 1-1 11; Mike Kelly 2-8 1-2 7; Jason Polykoff 1-5 2-4 4; Imran Siddiqui 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 35-71 13-20 88.
Washington College............   31   54  -   85
Haverford College.............   43   45  -   88
3-point goals-Washington College 10-24 (Jonathan Webb 2-4; Dustin Abbate 2-8; Andrew Gentile 2-3; Travis Moore 1-2; Kyle Stem 1-2; Drew Hill 1-1; Joe Breslin 1-4), Haverford College 5-20 (Johnny Elefterakis 3-10; Mike Kelly 2-8; Jason Polykoff 0-1; Jeremy Bass 0-1). Fouled out--Washington College-None, Haverford College-None. Rebounds-Washington College 45 (John Alexander 10; Joe Breslin 10), Haverford College 39 (Johnny Elefterakis 8). Assists-Washington College 14 (Dustin Abbate 3; Drew Hill 3; John Alexander 3), Haverford College 20 (Johnny Elefterakis 9). Total fouls-Washington College 18, Haverford College 13. A-350