By Victoria Ripple
Elm Staff Writer
Washington College broke a nine game losing streak against Haverford on Dec. 1, beating the Fords with a solid 78-61 win.
Haverford started off with a 14-8 lead with 14:22 left in the first half. WC picked up their play with 10:20 left to hold a 17-16 lead. With one minute to go in the first half, the Fords were leading 35-31. The Shoremen then scored the last five of the half to hold a 36-35 lead into halftime.
The Shoremen came out strong and maintained a 53-51 lead with 8:25 left in the second half. Junior Sal Schittino then scored five straight to take his team’s lead even further to 58-51 with 7:43 left. WC’s lead continued to 61-55 with 4:37 left but then quickly hit double digits at 66-55 with 3:49 left.
Schittino led his team in points with 19 and tied for steals at three. Junior Adam Naymick had 15 points for the Shoremen on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor. Junior Kevin Breslin had 16 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds, contributing to the win. WC shot 42 percent from the floor, 24 percent from the 3 point line, and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
The Shoremen held a 40-37 edge on boards while only having 16 turnovers to Haverford’s 27. WC also outscored Haverford in points off of turnovers (30-7), bench points (35-8), and fast break points (10-2).
On Dec. 4, WC took a 77-76 nail-biting win over Muhlenberg. The Shoremen had a 69-64 advantage with 7:55 left in the second half. The Mules took the lead but not for long after Breslin’s lay-up put WC back ahead to 73-72 with 3:17 remaining. WC led as many as 12 points in the first half while also scoring five of the last six points to take the lead to 39-37 at half time.
The second half was dramatic to say the least. Muhlenberg was unable to get the ball inbounds in five seconds, which resulted in a possession change. This much needed violation resulted in Breslin getting fouled during a drive with 5.6 seconds left in the game. Breslin sunk both free throw shots to give WC the lead by one in which the Mules could not overcome.
During this match there were 14 lead changes, including 10 in the second half, and five ties. Breslin led the team with 24 points while shooting a perfect eight for eight from the charity stripe. Sophomore Tony Hawkins had an impressive ten points in 13 minutes off the bench for the Shoremen. Naymick had a career high six assists, team best seven rebounds, and eight points to contribute to the win. WC only had 6 turnovers in comparison to Muhlenberg’s 20 while also dishing out 21 assists. The Shoremen also had 29 points off turnovers while the Mules only had 2. WC shot 46 percent from the field, 14 percent from the 3 point line, and 63 percent from the line.