Morgan Nets Game-High 19 Points For WC

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Visiting Gettysburg outscored host Washington College in overtime, 8-5, to emerge with a 67-64 win on Saturday afternoon at the Cain Athletic Center in a Centennial Conference men's basketball game.  The Bullets improve to 7-10 overall and 5-5 in the Centennial, while the Shoremen drop to 4-13 and 3-7 respectively.

Gettysburg led 57-54 with 2:19 left on a Cody Kiefer layup when Washington scored the next five points to take a 59-57 lead with 52 ticks left on a three-pointer by junior Sean Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn).  The Bullets would force overtime on a jumper from 15 feet away on the right baseline by Sean Gordon to level the score at 59-59.  Gordon's shot rolled around the rim and dropped in.  Washington had a chance to take the lead with four ticks left, but the three by sophomore forward Pat Morgan (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) was off the mark and the Bullets got the last chance, but their shot was after the buzzer and the game went to overtime.

In overtime, the Bullets led 60-59 when Kiefer canned a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2:11 left to give the guests a 63-59 lead.  Senior forward Tony Hawkins (Mt. Ephraim, N.J./Haddon Township) made two free throws to cut the lead to 63-61 with 1:11 left.  After an offensive rebound by the Bullets, Kiefer was fouled and made one from the line to make it 64-61 with 30 ticks left.  On the Shoremen's next possession, Morgan attempted a three-pointer, but the shot the was blocked by Tanner Kirkpatrick and Sango Amolo came up with the rebound.  Amolo made both to push the Bullets' lead to five at 66-61 with 10 seconds left.  Washington junior forward Sean Flanigan (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) made a three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left to cut the lead to 66-64.  Washington fouled Gordon with 2.8 ticks to go and he made one from the line to make it 67-64.  Washington's last chance was a 30-foot three-point try by Morgan that was off the mark and the Bullets held on for the win.

In the first half, Washington took control with a 7-1 run in the last 7:25 to end the half to take a 30-24 lead into halftime.  Junior John Weston (Tampa, Fla./Bolles School) made two free throws to give Washington the lead for the rest of the half at 25-23 with 6:57 left.  Brooks made a three-pointer with 2:41 remaining to give WC its biggest lead of the half at 30-23. 

After Weston made the opening basket of the second half on a fast-break lay-in 53 seconds in to give WC its biggest lead of the game at 32-24, Gettysburg responded with a 20-3 run to take its largest lead of the game at 44-35 with 12:55 left on a Kirkpatrick bunny.  Connor Poston, who scored six of the 20 points in the run gave the Bullets their first lead of the second half at 34-32 with 16:23 remaining and after a Morgan traditional three-point play gave the Shoremen a short-lived 35-34 lead with 16:10 to go in the second half, Poston made a transition layup from Gordon after Gordon stole the ball to put the Bullets ahead 36-35.

Washington would respond though with an 18-9 spurt to tie the game at 53-53 with 3:19 remaining on two Weston free throws.  Weston scored seven points, Morgan netted six and Hawkins added five points during the run to combine for all 18 points.  Poston made a layup to give the Bullets the lead back at 55-53 with 2:55 to go.  After a Weston free throw cut the lead to 55-54 with 2:32 left, Kiefer made a layup to give the Bullets a 57-54 lead with 2:19 left.  Morgan made a layup with 1:47 left to cut the lead to 57-56 and after a Gettysburg miss, Brooks put Washington back ahead for the first time since early in the second half on a three with 52 seconds to go.

Kiefer led the Bullets with 18 points, to go along with seven boards and six assists, while Gordon and Kirkpatrick added 10 points each.  Poston grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players, while tying for game-high in steals with three.   Amolo passed out seven assists to lead all players.  Gettysburg shot 41% from the floor (22-for-54), 35% from three-point land (8-for-23) and 65% from the foul line (15-for-23).  Gettysburg enjoyed a 39-31 advantage on the boards, 24-12 edge in points in the paint, 8-0 in second chance points and 16-11 in points by reserves.

Washington got a game-high 19 points from Morgan, while Weston added 14 points.  Flanigan grabbed 10 rebounds and passed out a career-best four assists to lead the Shoremen.  Freshman guard Austin Murphy (Souderton, Pa./Souderton) scored a career-high nine points.  The hosts shot 36% from the floor (20-for-55), 37% from three-point land (11-for-30) and 77% from the charity stripe (13-for-17).  The Shoremen had a 20-12 advantage in points off of turnovers and 14-9 in transition points. 

WC turned it over 14 times; while Gettysburg coughed it up 16 times.

The Shoremen return home on Tuesday night with a 6:00 p.m. game versus Swarthmore in Centennial Conference action.