Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – This time Alex Kraft couldn't break Gettysburg's hearts.

 Kraft, who drained a 35-foot buzzer-beater in overtime to down the Bullets last February in Lancaster, missed a 15-footer with two seconds left and Mike Monroe (Alexandria, VA/Bishop Ireton) hauled in the defensive rebound to preserve Gettysburg's 81-80 victory over 22nd-ranked Franklin & Marshall in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action on Wednesday.

 Needing 12 points to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career, senior Greg Schreiber (Mechanicsburg, PA/East Pennsboro) scored 22 points, the last two of which came on a layup that put the Bullets ahead for good with 18 seconds to play.

 Curtis McNeil (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) added a career-high 31 points for Gettysburg, which moved into a tie for first place with F&M in the CC West Division at 8-2.

 Larry Fain led four Diplomats in double figures with 22 points while Kraft added 19 points and nine rebounds in the loss, F&M's second straight at Bream Gymnasium.

 Despite watching the Diplomats erase a 13-point second-half deficit to take a 78-77 lead with 1:19 to play, Gettysburg had enough answers down the stretch to earn the win.

 Jim Natale's (Washington Crossing, PA/Council Rock) offensive rebound of a Terence Callahan (Bay Shore, NY/St. Anthony's) miss with 1:03 to play led to a pair of McNeil free throws that made it 79-78 with 57 seconds left.

 On Franklin & Marshall's next possession, however, Casimer Thomas put back a Duran Searles miss with 29 ticks remaining for an 80-79 Diplomats edge.

 Schreiber responded on Gettysburg's next trip up the court, scoring inside for an 81-80 Bullet lead while drawing Fain's fifth foul.

 Following a miss on the ensuing free throw attempt and a scramble for the rebound, Kraft's shot barely rimmed out from the right side of the lane and Monroe secured the carom to send the Gettysburg fans charging across the floor as the horn sounded.

 Down 57-44 with 15:22 left in the second half, Franklin & Marshall chipped away over the next 10 minutes, pulling to within 74-71 at the 5:17 mark on a 3-point play by Kraft.

 Natale made one of two free throws to push the lead back to 75-71, but the Diplomats used a 7-2 burst over the next 3:29 to take a 78-77 lead when Kraft knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:19 left.

 The Bullets trailed 24-17 with 8:11 left before halftime, but hit their final nine field goals of the half to take a 43-34 lead into the locker room.  McNeil scored 17 points in the opening 20 minutes as the Bullets shot 17-for-26 (65.4 percent) from the field and 6-for-10 from 3-point range.

 In addition to his 22-point performance, Schreiber also added nine rebounds and five assists.  He became the 18th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, finished the night with 1,010.

 Callahan scored nine points and added five assists for Gettysburg.

 Thomas finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists for F&M while Searles added 12 points despite being limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble.

 Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday, February 10 at Western Maryland College.  Game time is 3 p.m.

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