Brooks Scores 17 Points in Loss

CHESTERTOWN, Md. --  Visiting Gettysburg College survived a buzzer-beating three-point attempt to post a 59-58 Centennial Conference men's basketball victory over host Washington College this afternoon inside Cain Athletic Center. 

Gettysburg (5-2, 3-1 Centennial) held a 19-7 lead with under 12 minutes to play in the first half before an 18-8 spurt by the Shoremen cut the lead to 27-25 on a lay-up by freshman guard Tas Dixon (Ardmore, Pa./Harriton) with 5:27 remaining. Washington (1-5, 1-2) pulled even for the first time on a three-pointer by senior guard Sean Brooks (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) with 2:53 to go in the half, leveling the score at 30-30. The then ended the half on a 9-3 run, taking its first lead on a lay-up and free throw by senior guard John Weston (Tampa, Fla./Bolles School) with 1:19 to go, putting the Shoremen in front, 34-32. Sophomore guard Bryan Shapiro (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./Lower Merion) ended the half with a buzzer-beating long three-pointer to give Washington a 39-33 cushion at halftime. The Shoremen scored 21 points off 14 Gettysburg first-half turnovers while the Bullets did not score a single point off the six Washington turnovers in the period. 

Washington extended the lead to seven points early in the second half before a 12-4 run by the Bullets, capped off by a Pete Christ jumper with 12:28 to go, put Gettysburg back in front, 49-48. The Shoremen regained the lead with 11:27 left on a steal and lay-up by Brooks to make the score 50-49 in favor of the Shoremen. Gettysburg went back in front, 51-50, on a Kevin Gladstone lay-up with 9:33 to go. A Cameron Stewart lay-up with 8:50 remaining pushed the Bullet lead to three. 

From that point, Gettysburg held a lead between one and four points from that point. The Bullets led, 59-57, with 50 seconds to go when the Shoremen called timeout with the ball. A jumper by Weston with 25 seconds to go came up short, but a lane violation by Sean Gordon while shooting a free throw with 21.2 seconds left gave the ball back to Washington. Following another Shoremen timeout, Weston was fouled on a driving lay-up to the basket with 5.8 seconds to go. Weston made the first free throw, but missed the second. Tanner Kirkpatrick went to the line for the Bullets with 4.9 seconds left, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Washington junior forward Dave Knox (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) grabbed the defensive rebound and drove the ball up court, getting a clean look at a three-pointer from the top of the arc that rimmed out at the buzzer as the Bullets held on for the one-point win.

Gladstone led the Bullets with 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field and 5-of-7 shooting at the line in the win. Christ added 13 points, while Gordon had seven points, seven assists, and six rebounds. 

Brooks paced the Shoremen with 17 points, five assists, and four steals. Senior forward Sean Flanigan (Wilmington, Del./St. Mark's) chipped in 10 points.

Gettysburg shot 52% from the field for the game, including an 11-of-15 mark from two-point range in the second half. The Bullets also held a 36-27 rebounding advantage, atoning for their 23 turnovers in the contest. 

The Shoremen return to action Sunday, December 14th, with a 4:00 p.m. non-conference game at Salisbury.