Breslin Scores 19 Points to Lead WC

LANCASTER, PA – Kevin Kennedy and Brendan Trelease each scored a game-high 19 points as second seeded and defending tournament champion Gettysburg downed third seeded Washington College, 91-78, on Saturday afternoon at the Mayser Center on the campus of Franklin & Marshall in a Centennial Conference Men's Basketball Semifinal Tournament contest. The Bullets, who advance to their third straight conference championship game, are now 15-10 on the year, while the Shoremen finish the campaign at 13-10. The Bullets will take on the winner of the Muhlenberg-Franklin & Marshall contest at 3:00 p.m. tomorrow.

The two sides were tied 10-10 with 14:18 left in the first half following a three-pointer by Andrew Powers of Gettysburg, when the Shoremen opened up an 18-10 lead with eight consecutive points with 11:57 to go in the first half on a triple by sophomore guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield). WC still led by eight, its biggest lead of the day, at 20-12 with 9:00 to go in the first when the Bullets would counter with an 11-2 run to take a 23-22 lead with 5:53 left on a Powers driving layup. Gettysburg led 28-27 with 3:07 left when they scored the final eight points to take its biggest lead of the half at 36-27 with 1:06 left in the frame following a Brendan Hager layup.

Gettysburg opened the second half scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 49-27 lead with 15:27 left on a Alex Zurn trifecta. The hoop capped a 21-0 run for the Bullets. Washington would cut it to 54-42 with 11:22 to go in the game on a Schittino jumper following a steal by sophomore guard/forward Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti). The Shoremen scored seven more consecutive points to reduce the Bullets' lead to 54-49 with 9:38 left on a triple by Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph) on a pass from senior guard Scott Hampton (Colts Neck, NJ/Colts Neck) after Hampton began the play with a steal. DeBoy's make closed out a 22-5 run by WC. Gettysburg would push the lead back out to 10 points at 61-51 with 8:17 to go when Zurn connected on a three-pointer to beat the shot clock. Washington cut it to 74-66 with 3:30 to go on the clock on a Schittino shot from behind the arc, The Shoremen trimmed the Bullets lead to 77-70 with 2:25 to go on a pair of free throws by senior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson). After Gettysburg got the lead back to 10 points at 80-70, Schittino cashed in on another three to knock the lead back to seven points at 80-73 with 1:37 remaining. Sophomore Doug Holcombe (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) got it to to 82-75 with 1:14 left on a long two-point shot. It was third and final time that WC got it to within seven points in the final 2:25, but the Shoremen would draw no closer. The Bullets hit seven free throws and got a breakaway layup to salt away the win.

For Gettysburg, who shot 63% from the floor (30-for-48), got a double-double from Hager with 10 points and a game-best 11 assists. Hager is the first Bullet since the 1992-93 season to tally 10 or more assists in a contest. Powers and Zurn both netted 16 points, with Zurn going 5-for-6 from the floor and hitting both of his triples. Powers grabbed six rebounds to lead the Bullets. Trelease tied for the game-high in blocks with two. Gettysburg hit 11-for-16 from three-point range for a clip of 69% and shot 77% from the free throw line on 20-for-26 shooting.

Breslin tied Kennedy and Trelease for the game-high in points with 19 and totaled eight boards to lead all players. Kines added 18 points and had six rebounds for WC, while Schittino dropped in 17 points, canning four from beyond the arc. Hampton and senior guard Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) both dished out three assists to lead WC, with Hampton leading all players with four steals. WC shot 38% (30-for-79) from the floor, 28% from three-point land (5-for-18) and 72% at the charity stripe (13-for-18). The Shoremen forced 23 Gettysburg turnovers in the loss, while only coughing up the ball eight times themselves.

Washington scored all 16 second chance points between the two teams in the game, held a 25-15 edge in points off turnovers, 28-23 in bench points and outscored the Bullets, 38-36, in points in the paint. Gettysburg scored all eight fast-break points in the contest.

Washington recorded its first winning season since 2000-01 when the Shoremen went 13-11. The 13 victories are the most since the 2005-06 campaign.

Today marked the final game for seniors Chambers, Hampton, Kines, forward James Whall (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) and guard Matt Hamm (Newark, DE/St. Mark's).