2012 Season Review

Signature Wins: Haverford poured in a season high 93 points on their way to a lopsided 93-52 victory over host Ursinus College on February 8, 2012. Led by Ian Goldberg’s career-high 32 points and six steals, the road triumph over the Bears gave the Fords a three-game win streak. While this forty-one point win may have been the Fords’ most impressive victory of the season, it lacked the nail-biting drama from four days earlier when Haverford held off a late charge from McDaniel College en route to a 51-49 victory. McDaniel had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with less than ten seconds left, but Haverford’s strong defense forced the visiting Green Terror into missing a tough shot at the buzzer.

Season Notes: Senior Ian Goldberg (1,028) and junior Cam Baker (1,015) both surpassed the 1,000 point plateau in the Fords’ final game against Swarthmore … Goldberg finished his collegiate career 10th in program history in scoring, third in three-point field goals made (170), fifth in assists (253), and tied for first in games played (99) … Goldberg (2/13/12) and sophomore Brett Cohen (2/06/12) were named Centennial Conference players of the week … Cohen notched five double-doubles on the year, including a 30-point, 18-rebound outburst against Washington College. Cohen also set the Fords’ single-season record for offensive rebounds (81) … Baker’s 1.9 steals per game was good for second in the conference …  Senior Bo Friddell finished fourth in the Centennial in free-throw percentage (81.4%).

Postseason Awards

  • All-Centennial Conference: Ian Goldberg (first-team)
  • Centennial Academic Honor Roll: Louis Cipriano, Friddell, Goldberg, Geoff Hartmann, Joel Michel, Eli Schwarz

2012 Season Outlook

Haverford College men’s basketball head coach Mike Mucci returns for his 17th year as his Fords kick-off the 2012 season on the road, Tuesday (Nov.15) at the No. 14 Cabrini College Cavaliers. 

Last year’s squad recorded a 14-12 overall record, with a 10-8 Centennial Conference mark.

The team’s preparation for this season began on Feb.27, the day after the Fords ended the 2010-11 season in a league semifinal loss to Franklin & Marshall College. In the offseason, several players stayed on campus, working out in local summer leagues and working basketball camps.  Playing in the Philadelphia summer leagues against several NCAA Division I and NBA players gave the Haverford men a chance to elevate their games.

“The opportunity to play at a higher level combined with sticking to their summer workout program really helped our guys,” said Mucci.

Mucci was happy with the way the team looked on the first day of practice and proceeded with a tough three and a half weeks of preseason workouts.

Backcourt

Two of the top three scorers return in junior Cam Baker (16.7 points per game) and senior co-captain Ian Goldberg (12.8 ppg) this year.  Fellow second-year guard Louis Cipriano (5.5 ppg) returns with the team’s best three-point percentage (.433), and has been working on his shooting consistency. He’ll be counted on to chip in even more for the Fords. Another key veteran includes senior guard Joel Michael, while freshmen backcourt players Lucas Colombo and Gibby Graves should also be competing for time.    

Frontcourt

One of the top three returning scorers who will be expected to post big numbers is senior co-captain Bo Friddell (8.5 ppg).  Mucci will expect him to step up even more this year with solid defense.  Coach Mucci also needs his upperclassmen to create a team identity for this young squad, which lists a total of nine sophomores and freshmen on the roster. 

Another returner, sophomore Brett Cohen, is the veteran in the paint with 5.3 rebounds per game last season (and 7.1 ppg).  Cohen stayed on campus over the summer and has continued to grow, as he will look to be around the basket even more this year. Sophomore forwards Geoff Hartman and Jordan Taylor round out the big men.

What to expect

The team’s first game against the Cavaliers will be a tough test for the squad’s first contest. 

“We play two ranked, non-conference teams this season,” said Mucci. “My philosophy is play tougher teams when you can.” 

The team faces off against No. 1 Virginia Wesleyan (Jan. 8) and No.7 conference foe F&M (Jan. 28).  The Fords man up against other top conference competition at home such as Gettysburg (Jan. 21) and Dickinson (Feb. 11).

Haverford is known for a fast-tempo, guard-oriented style of play and it should be much of the same this season.  Coach Mucci has a tried and true criterion to get his team back to the conference championship, where they last were in 2007.

“Stay healthy, play as a team and improve each game,” Mucci said, with a smile.