men’s basketball opens cc play with big win

Junior Brian Frankoski dished out a career-high six assists. The Mules recorded assists on 21 of their 28 baskets.

If you had been told before the game that the Haverford men’s basketball team would hold Muhlenberg’s leading scorer, Peter Barnes, to four shot attempts, you might think the Fords would have a good chance at winning.

You’d be wrong. Barnes made all four of his shots, the last three on dunks, and got plenty of help from his teammates. The Mules dominated from start to finish and won their Centennial Conference opener, 73-41.

The 41 points were the second-fewest allowed by Muhlenberg in a CC game, topped – or bottomed – only by a

Click above to see video of Barnes’ three dunks.

78-33 win against Haverford 10 years ago. The 32-point margin of victory was the biggest ever for the Mules in their first CC game of the season.

Muhlenberg (3-1, 1-0) shot 53.8 percent from the field, including 64 percent in the second half, and held the Fords to 26.8-percent shooting. The Mules led by 31 points, 55-24, with 10 minutes left in the game.

Junior Ryan Foster led all scorers with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and freshman Spencer Liddic scored a career-high 15 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Sophomore Evan Tozer made his first start of the season and scored 11 points, going 3-for-5 from three-point range. Muhlenberg made nine of its 17 long-distance tries in the game.

The Mules seized control with a 13-1 first-half run that extended a 14-10 lead to 27-11. Haverford went almost eight full minutes without making a field goal and hit just one bucket in the last 12:41 of the half, which ended with the score 34-17.

In their last game, the Fords (2-2) outscored Catholic 45-22 in the second half to overcome a 10-point deficit and win, 70-57. Muhlenberg nixed a Haverford comeback in this game on the first possession of the second half, as Barnes took a lob pass from Tozer and dunked the ball to set the tone for the rest of the game.

In addition to his three slams, Barnes also had three emphatic blocked shots. Another player who had a big game did his work a little more subtly. Senior Chris MacIntosh did not score a point but dished out six assists without a turnover, pulled down five rebounds and played excellent defense on the Fords’ top scorer.
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