Box Score
BALTIMORE, Md. – Curtis McNeil (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) scored a season-high 25 points and Terence Callahan (Bay Shore, NY/St. Anthony's) added a career-best 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Gettysburg to an 84-79, double-overtime victory over Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on Wednesday.
McNeil scored 20 of his points after halftime, including six free throws in the decisive second overtime to help the Bullets (4-3, 2-0 CC) snap a four-game losing streak in Baltimore and improve to 2-0 in the conference for the first time since the 1996-97 season.
Greg Schreiber (Mechanicsburg, PA/East Pennsboro) followed a career day on Saturday with another strong showing on Wednesday, scoring 19 points and leading the team with nine rebounds.
The Bullet starting five of Schreiber, McNeil, Callahan, Mike Monroe (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) and Jim Natale (Washington Crossing, PA/Council Rock) combined to play 230 of a possible 250 minutes on the evening. Monroe finished with a season-best nine points while Natale chipped in with seven.
For Johns Hopkins (4-3, 1-1 CC), Matthew Eisley led four Blue Jays in double figures with 28 points on 11-of-13 shooting while Brian Cosgrove added 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Antoine Peoples and Steve Adams also reached double digits with 10 points apiece.
Following misses by McNeil and Schreiber and a half-court near-miss by Cosgrove in the final 10 seconds of regulation, the two teams played an even first overtime, before Gettysburg took control in the second extra session.
McNeil opened the second OT by converting one of two free throws for a 73-72 Bullet lead before Adams scored inside to make it 74-73 Johns Hopkins with 4:23 to play.
Callahan and Cosgrove traded 3-pointers before Callahan scored on a layup to put Gettysburg ahead to stay at 78-77 with 3:16 remaining, the game's 13th lead and final lead change of the evening.
Neither team scored over the next 1 minute, 45 seconds before McNeil was fouled and hit both charity tosses for an 80-77 Gettysburg edge with only 1:31 left.
Natale went 1-of-2 from the stripe with 48.9 seconds left and McNeil sandwiched three free throws around a Cosgrove put-back in the final 33 seconds to seal the win.
Neither team led by more than six points in a tight second half. Gettysburg went up 57-51 on a basket from Schreiber with 8:00 left in regulation, but the Blue Jays countered with a 10-4 run to knot the score at 61 with 3:26 remaining.
Johns Hopkins led 65-62 in the final minute of regulation, but Callahan scored inside with 34 seconds and McNeil hit the second of two free throws to tie the game at 65 with 18.6 seconds left.
Both McNeil and Schreiber missed from close range on Gettysburg's final possession and Cosgrove's half-court heave clanged off the front rim to force the overtime sessions.
The win was the first for the Bullets in Baltimore since an 81-73 victory on January 25, 1996, the last season in which Gettysburg reached the CC playoffs.
The Bullets return to action on Saturday, Dec. 9 at Elizabethtown College. Game time is 3 p.m.
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