Box Score

HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. - In the end, the tempo and point totals were right where they had to be for the Gettysburg men's basketball team to spring an upset on 16th-ranked Hampden-Sydney in the first round of the NCAA tournament on Thursday night.

Twenty-seven turnovers and a field-goal drought of 7:03 midway through the second half, however, derailed the Bullets' upset dreams, as the Tigers used 19 offensive rebounds and their trademark stingy defense to subdue Gettysburg 60-52 in front of a raucous paid crowd of 1,350.

Bobby Jackson led a balanced Hampden-Sydney attack with 11 points while Jay Patrick also reached double figures with 10.

Gettysburg's Curtis McNeil (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephen's & St. Agnes) erupted for 19 of his game-high 22 points after halftime, including a pair of 3-pointers in the final two minutes that cut a 10-point Tiger lead to 55-52 with 51 seconds remaining.

The Bullets trailed 56-52 and had the ball with 48.5 seconds left, but turned it over on their next two possessions, allowing Hampden-Sydney to seal the victory by converting four of six free throws in the final 38 seconds.

Terence Callahan (Bay Shore, NY/St. Anthony's) added 10 points for Gettysburg, which ended its season at 17-10 after winning the program's first Centennial Conference championship.

Down 25-23 at halftime, Gettysburg pulled even for the final time on a McNeil driving layup on its first possession of the second half. The Tigers went ahead to stay, 27-25, on a Swann 15-foot jumper with 18:32 left that started a 9-2 run and gave the home team a 34-27 lead at the 15:36 mark.

Cody Bowers (Indiana, PA/Indiana) quickly cut the lead to 34-30 with his only 3-pointer of the game, but Jay Patrick answered with a trey of his own for the Tigers to keep the lead at seven, 37-30, with 15:01 to play.

Greg Schreiber (Mechanicsburg, PA/East Pennsboro) converted one of two free throws at 13:48 to pull the Bullets within 37-31, but Gettysburg wouldn't score again until a cutting layup from Jim Natale (Washington Crossing, PA/Council Rock) pulled the Bullets within 41-33 at the 8:16 mark, a scoring drought of 5 minutes 32, seconds.

Hampden-Sydney maintained its 8- to 10-point cushion over the game's next six minutes, before Gettysburg turned a 54-44 disadvantage into a 55-52 deficit with 51 seconds left, thanks in part to a 5-for-14 stretch at the free throw line by the Tigers.

Despite turning the ball over 12 times in the opening 20 minutes, Gettysburg was able to dictate the first-half tempo and stay within 25-23 of the Tigers.

Kevin Boyle (Dublin, PA/Lansdale Catholic) staked the Bullets to a 5-0 lead in the first 2:10, scoring on an inside layup and knocking down a 3-pointer.

The Tigers roared back with eight straight points to take an 8-5 lead on a put-back jumper by Lane Brooks with 15:40 left in the half.

Callahan converted a layup off his own steal to break a 3-minute, 47-second scoring drought at the 14:03 mark, then scored another easy bucket set up by a hustling steal from Bowers to put the Bullets back on top 9-8 at 13:20.

Jeff Monroe's steal and layup keyed a 9-2 Hampden-Sydney run that put the Tigers ahead 17-11 with 11:11 in the half, but Gettysburg answered with an 8-1 burst, taking a short-lived 19-18 lead on two free throws by McNeil at the 6:03 mark.

Brandon Russell knocked down a 3-pointer for put the Tigers back ahead 21-19 and Hampden-Sydney pushed the lead to 25-19 before a McNeil free throw and three points from Schreiber set the halftime score at 25-23 in favor of Hampden-Sydney.

In addition to his team-high point total, McNeil also led the Bullets with eight rebounds.

Aaron Gibbs scored eight points for Hampden-Sydney and pulled down a game-best 12 rebounds in the win.

The Tigers will face William Paterson in the NCAA second round on Saturday, Mar. 3 in Wayne, N.J.

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