Breslin and Schittino Score 13 Points Each To Lead WC

CHESTERTOWN, MD – Gettysburg's Ben Constable scored all 13 of his points in the second to help lead Gettysburg to a 65-57 win over host Washington College on Saturday afternoon at the Cain Athletic Center in Centennial Conference men's basketball action.  The Bullets improve to 12-11 overall and 9-7 in the conference, while the Shoremen fall to 7-16 and 6-10 respectively.

The Shoremen took their last lead of the game, 48-46, with 5:12 to go on a pair of free throws by junior guard Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield).  On the Bullets' next possession, Tim Lang scored on a putback layup with 4:42 left in the game to tie it at 48-48.  Following a WC miss, Constable put the Bullets in front 50-48 with 3:58 to go on a layup.  Schittino would knot it up at 50-50 just 15 seconds later on a jumper.  Lang would put the Bullets up 52-50 with 3:25 left on a layup, but junior forward Adam Naymick (Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) leveled the score at 52-52 with 3:15 remaining on a Schittino pass.  It was the 11th and final tie of the game.  Powers canned a jumper on a pass by Kevin Kennedy with 2:51 to go to put Gettysburg up for good at 54-52.  Derek Brooks increased the Gettysburg lead to 56-52 with 2:14 left on a layup.  Junior forward Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) hit one free throw with 1:50 remaining to cut the visitors' lead to 56-53.  The score stayed that way for the next 62 seconds when Constable was fouled and netted both from the foul line to increase the lead to 58-53.  His two free throws began a 9-for-10 stretch from the line in the final 48 seconds to ice the game and did not let the Shoremen get within five points during that time frame.

Washington jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first 5:33 that capped by a layup by sophomore forward Chris Soper (Poolesville, MD/Poolesville).  Gettysburg responded with a 12-3 run of its own to take a 16-13 lead with 7:23 left in the first half on an Andrew Powers free throw.  The Shoremen would tie the contest at 22-22 on a free throw by freshman forward Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) with 1:49 left in the opening half.  Cunningham gave the Shoremen a 26-25 lead on an off-balance jumper with one tick left and that was the halftime score.

Washington scored six of the first eight points in the second half to take a 32-27 lead with 15:51 to go in the game on two free throws by junior guard/forward Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti).  The Bullets would rally to tie the game at 34-34 with 13:02 left on a traditional three-point play by Connor Poston.  Schittino snapped a 39-39 tie with a triple with 9:56 left in the game to give WC a 42-39 lead.  The Bullets scored the next four points to take a 43-42 lead with 8:32 left on a Poston layup.  Breslin would give the hosts a 46-45 lead with 7:22 remaining in the game on a jumper, but Powers hit a free throw to tie it with 5:25 to go in the contest.

Powers scored 15 points to lead all players in the win, while Brooks added 11 points for Gettysburg.  Brooks also had four steals and three blocks to lead all participants in the game.  Lang had 10 points and grabbed a game-best eight rebounds.  Brendan Trelease handed out a team-best five assists to tie for tops in the contest.  The Bullets shot 46% (23-for-50) from the floor and 78% (18-for-23) from the foul line.

Breslin and Schittino each scored 13 points to tie for the team best for Washington.  Naymick grabbed seven boards to lead the Shoremen.  Senior guard Dylan Bernstein (Laytonsville, MD/Gaithersburg) had five assists to lead WC and tie Trelease for the game-high.  The Shoremen shot 31% (18-for-58) from the field, but only 55% (18-for-33) from the charity stripe.

Gettysburg held a 45-32 edge in rebounds, while turning it over 28 times to just 15 for Washington.  Gettysburg held a 40-14 edge in points in the paint and 6-4 in transition points.  Washington had a 16-12 edge in points off turnovers, 15-8 advantage in second-chance points and 22-20 edge in bench points.

The Shoremen return to action on Wednesday night when they travel to Ursinus in Centennial Conference action.  Tip-off time is at 8:00 p.m.