Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Curtis McNeil (Alexandria,
VA/St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes) entered Gettysburg’s
1,000-point club on Saturday with a performance befitting
a 1,000-point scorer.
Needing to match his season-high of 29
points to reach the mark, McNeil struck for a career-best
35 to lead Gettysburg over eighth-ranked Franklin & Marshall
79-69 in Centennial Conference (CC) men’s basketball action.
The senior captain, converted a free
throw with 2:13 remaining to become the 19th member of the
program’s 1,000-point club, then scored six more in the final
1:02 to ice the crucial conference victory.
It marked the third time that McNeil
has set a career-high scoring mark against the Diplomats.
He tallied 27 points in Lancaster during the 1999-2000 season
and 31 in last year’s battle at Bream Gym.
Despite trailing the entire second half,
Franklin & Marshall (13-2, 3-1 CC) rallied to within a
missed 3-pointer of tying the score in the game’s final minute
and a half.
Cas Thomas led four players
in double figures with 16 points for the Diplomats, who fell
into a first-place tie in the CC West Division with Gettysburg
(11-4, 3-1 CC). Western Maryland would also claim a
share of the top spot with a win over Dickinson on Saturday
in Carlisle.
Similar to last year’s meeting in Gettysburg,
the Bullets used a run late in the first half to take command.
Tied at 22, Gettysburg put together an
18-4 burst to take a 40-26 lead with 1:54 left before the
break. David Glaser (West Chester, PA/Malvern Prep)
put the Bullets ahead to stay on a free throw and McNeil followed
an F&M turnover with a basket to make it 25-22.
Alex Kraft, the 2001 CC
Co-Player of the Year, hit 1 of 2 free throws to pull the
Diplomats within two. Cody Bowers (Indiana, PA/Indiana)
knocked down his lone 3-pointer of the game, before Glaser
converted a steal-and-layup and assisted on a Jim Natale
(Washington Crossing, PA/Council Rock) bucket to push
the lead to 32-23.
McNeil hit a pair of tough driving layups
to make it 38-26, then capped the run with two free throws
for the last of his 19 first-half points.
Also similar to the 2001 game at Bream
Gym, F&M almost stole the game in the second half.
Trailing by as many as 16 points with
10:30 remaining, the Diplomats went on a methodical 18-5 burst
over the next 7 minutes, 21 seconds, cutting the lead to 66-63
on Thomas’ put-back with 3:09 remaining.
The Bullets, who went an icy 2-for-13
from the floor with four turnovers during the same stretch,
built the lead back to 69-64 on three McNeil free throws –
including his 1,000th point – before Steve Juskin
answered with two of his 11 points to cut the lead to three.
A turnover gave the ball back to F&M with
a chance to tie the game, but Jackiem Wright’s
3-point attempt missed the mark and McNeil answered with a
bank jumper from the right side of the lane and two free throws
to make it 73-66 with 40 seconds left.
Layups from Kevin Boyle (Pennsburg,
PA/Lansdale Catholic), McNeil and Natale in the final
15 seconds sealed Gettysburg’s third consecutive home victory
against the Diplomats.
McNeil’s point total was the highest
single-game mark by a Bullet since John Griffin scored 40
in a 93-77 win over Bethany on Jan. 9, 1993. McNeil,
averaging just 10.7 points in his previous three games, has
now scored 30 points in a game three times in his collegiate
career.
Glaser finished with 12 points while
Boyle scored nine to go with five rebounds. Natale hauled
in a game-high six boards.
Larry Fain also hit double
digits with 11 points for F&M while Duran Searles
added 10.
Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday
at Western Maryland. Game time is 7 p.m.
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