February 17, 2007
Fratangelo Carries Haverford Past Swarthmore, 84-78;
Senior Captain Registers First Career Double-Double in Overtime Thriller

HAVERFORD, PA – Haverford senior guard Mike Fratangelo registered his first career double-double with a career-high ten rebounds and team-high 22 points as host Haverford downed rival Swarthmore, 84-78 in a Centennial Conference men's basketball overtime thriller. Fratangelo scored seven points in the overtime period to help lead the Fords to victory. Haverford improves to 13-11 overall and 12-6 in Centennial play with the win, while Swarthmore falls to 11-14 and 8-10.

Haverford jumped out to a 21-12 lead with Ray Brown scoring 13 of the Fords first 21 points, including a stretch of ten straight points in the opening eight minutes. The Fords extended their lead to 14 points minutes later, highlighted by a fast break finger roll layup by sophomore guard Chaz Thomas.

The Fords took a 35-26 lead at the half, but the Garnet came back with six straight points to cut Haverford's lead, 35-32, early into the second half. Sophomore guard Greg Rosnick stopped the Swarthmore run with a three-pointer from Thomas to make the score 38-32 with 16:00 remaining. Swarthmore closed the gap to two points after two Casey free throws with 13:00 to go. McCormick then evened the contest for the first time at 42 with 12:23 left. After a Thomas jumper, Kurman hit a three from the wing to give Swarthmore its first lead, 45-44, since a 5-4 advantage nearly four minutes into the first half.

With the game tied at 47, Haverford went on a 12-4 run over a three minute span to take back a 59-51 advantage with 7:30 to go. McCormick put an end to the Fords run converting a three-point play with 7:24 on the clock to make the score 59-54. Up 65-63, Rosnick made a driving layup as the shot clock expired to give the Fords a four point edge with 2:30 left in the game. Swarthmore quickly answered and got the ball back after Haverford couldn't convert on its next offensive possession. After a Swarthmore timeout, Wolf knotted the game at 67 with a driving lay in with 1:30 to go. Haverford turned the ball over on its next possession, and Swarthmore's Matt Turner was fouled going for a loose ball with 1:00 remaining.

With both teams in the bonus, Turner made both free throws to give Swat a 69-67 lead. Brown was fouled on Haverford's next possession while making a move towards the hoop, and registered his first points since the first half on two free throws to knot the game at 69 with 33.3 seconds left on the clock. After a Swarthmore timeout, Casey made a driving layup with 8.8 seconds left to give the Garnet a 71-69 lead. After the Fords called a timeout, Fratangelo drove towards the hoop and sank a floating ten-footer as time expired to send the game into overtime.

Fratangelo opened the scoring in the overtime period, sinking two free throws to make the score 73-71. After the two teams exchanged possessions, Fratangelo scored another two points on a reverse layup, making the game 75-71. The Garnet couldn't convert on their next offensive possession, leading to a Rosnick layup, giving Haverford the 77-71 advantage with 2:50 to go. Down 79-73, Kurman drained a three-pointer with 1:06 left to pull the Garnet back within three points. Fratangelo was called for a charge on the other end, leading to Swarthmore's Wolf getting fouled on a three-point attempt with 25.9 seconds remaining in overtime. Wolf's first attempt fell short, but he sank the next two free throws to make the game 79-78 in Haverford's favor. Frantangelo was fouled with 20.0 seconds left and made the first attempt but grabbed his own rebound after missing the second. Fratangelo was quickly fouled and made both attempts to give the Fords an 82-78 edge. Swarthmore turned the ball over while advancing the ball up the floor and Thomas put the nail in the Garnet's coffin with a driving layup to give Haverford the 84-78 win.

In addition to Fratangelo, three other Fords recorded double-digit scoring performances. Brown added 17 points and six rebounds while Rosnick scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and dished out a game-high six assists. Thomas finished the game with 15 points for Haverford in the win. Sophomore forward Ben McDowell added six key second half points for the Fords.

Swarthmore was led by Wolf's game-high 23 points. McCormick and Kurman finished the game with 17 points each.

Haverford out-rebounded Swarthmore by a 35-23 margin in the game. Haverford shot 52.7% in the game, including a 58.3% (14-of-24) performance in the first half. Swarthmore made 50% of its shots in the game and 70% (14-of-20) of its shots in the second half. The Fords sank 88.5% (23-of-26) of their free throw attempts while the Garnet made 76.9% (20-of-26) from the charity stripe.

The Fords, who ended Swarthmore's postseason hopes with the win, will ride a four-game winning streak into the Centennial Conference men's basketball postseason tournament next Saturday. The third-seeded Fords will take on second-seeded Ursinus next Saturday in the tournament semifinals at Johns Hopkins. Game time will be determined on Monday.

Box Score