Washington Wins Second Straight at Gettysburg

GETTYSBURG, PA – Visiting Washington College used a 24-4 run in the second half to turn a 43-33 deficit into a 57-47 lead as the Shoremen downed host host Gettysburg, 72-65, on Saturday afternoon at Bream Gym in a Centennial Conference men's basketball contest. The Shoremen improve to 9-7 overall and 7-5 in the Centennial, while the Bullets fall to 9-9 and 7-5 respectively. Washington has now won two in a row at Bream Gym.

Washington was trailing Gettysburg, 43-33, with 13:35 left in the second half when the Shoremen went on a 24-4 run to take a 57-47 lead with 6:17 left in the contest on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield). Senior forward James Whall (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) began the run with a three-pointer at the 13:07 mark to cut the Gettysburg lead to 43-36. A fast-break layup by senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) on a play that was started by a Whall steal trimmed the Bullets lead to 45-42 with 10:40 left forcing a Bullet timeout. Sophomore guard/forward Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) netted a hoop to cut the hosts' lead to 45-44. Schittino put the guests up 47-45, giving WC its first lead since the first half, on a three-pointer with 9:38 to go. It was also a lead that the Shoremen would never relinquish. Whall and Schittino scored on a back-to-back makes respectively to put WC up six points at 51-45. Schittino hit a shot from behind the arc to extend the lead to 54-45. Andrew Powers connected with two free throws to cut the visitors' lead to 54-47 with 6:41 left. Schittino would cap the run 24 seconds later on his third triple of the run. During the run Schittino scored 11 of the team's 24 points..

Gettysburg scored 12 of the next 20 points to cut the Washington lead to 65-59 with 2:06 to go on a pair of free throws by Powers. After a jumper by Breslin put Washington up 67-59 with 1:08 to go, Brendan Hager drained a three to trim the lead to 67-62 with 47 ticks left. Gettysburg forced a turnover on the next WC possession on a steal by Alex Zurn. The Shoremen fouled Paul Crone with 32 seconds left and he went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe to cut the lead to 67-63. Nine seconds elapsed before Washington went to the line. Breslin sank both from the line to give WC a 69-63 lead. Gettysburg answered with 18 seconds to go on a Hager fast-break lay-in to cut the lead to four points at 69-65. The Bullets committed a technical foul following the make and Chambers hit one of the technical free throws to push the lead back to five at 70-65 with 16 seconds left. After a missed free throw by Washington, Gettysburg tried to cut into the lead but Powers missed the three and Breslin got the rebound. Breslin nailed both from the line with four seconds remaining and provided the final margin.

The hosts jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead just 72 seconds into the game on a three-pointer by Zurn. Washington would answer right back, by going on an 11-5 run to take a 13-11 lead with 13:08 left in the first half on a jumper in the paint by sophomore forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic). The Shoremen led 22-21 with 6:08 left in the half following two free throws by senior guard/forward Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) when the Bullets scored 10 unanswered points to end the first half and take a 31-22 lead into halftime. Kevin Kennedy hit a jumper to put Gettysburg up 23-22 with 3:03 left in the first. Tim Lang tipped in a miss to put the Bullets up 26-22 with 1:37 to go and Kennedy closed out the scoring in the first half on a bucket with 21 ticks left in the frame. Kennedy had 14 points in the opening 20 minutes on 6-for-8 shooting. Gettysburg shot 53% in the first on 10-for-19 shooting, while Washington was just 8-for-22 from the floor for a clip of 36%.

In the second half, Gettysburg took its biggest lead of the game, 35-24, with 18:52 left on a Lang layup. The Shoremen would respond with a 9-2 run to trim the Bullets lead to 37-33 with 15:11 to go on two free throws by Kines. Kennedy would score six quick points to up the lead back to 10 points at 43-33 with 13:35 left when he scored on a conventional three-point play.

Chambers scored 17 points to lead the Shoremen and was one of four WC players to score in double figures. Breslin added 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to tie for the game-high, Kines chipped in with 13 points and totaled four steals to lead all players. Schittino totaled 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-4 from three-point land. Senior guard Scott Hampton (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) handed out a game-best seven assists. Washington shot 50% in the game from the floor, including a clip of 59% (19-for-32) in the second half. The Shoremen shot 76% (13-for-17) from the charity stripe and 63% (5-for-8) from behind the arc. Washington outrebounded Gettysburg, 31-28, and outscored the hosts in bench points by a 22-9 margin.

For the Bullets, Kennedy led all players with 20 points, but did not score in the last 13:35. Powers added 15 points and tied Breslin for tops in boards with eight, while Zurn netted 10 points. Gettysburg shot just 41% in the second half and shot 45% for the game. The Bullets went just 18-for-27 from the free throw line (67%) and were 5-for-13 from three (39%). Both teams committed 16 turnovers in the game.

Washington avenged an 82-54 loss to Gettysburg on January 9 in Chestertown, MD and went 6-3 in the month of January.

The Shoremen return to action on Wednesday with a 8:00 p.m. Centennial Conference game versus Haverford. It will be Washington's first home game since January 20.