Box Score
GRANTHAM, Pa. – Freshman Gian Paul Gonzalez
scored a game-high 32 points as Messiah used a 20-1 second-half
run to break open a close game and roll past Gettysburg 76-52
in non-conference men’s basketball action on Monday.
Playing in his third collegiate game,
Gonzalez scored a team-best 12 points before halftime, then
exploded for 20 of the Falcons’ 55 second-half points to help
the home squad hand the Bullets (2-3) their third straight
loss.
Pete Godino chipped in
with 15 points for Messiah (2-1) while Femi Akinnagbe
added 11 and Quinn McCullough also hit double
digits with 10.
David Glaser (West Chester, PA/Malvern
Prep), the Centennial Conference’s leading scorer
at 25.8 points per game entering the night, led Gettysburg
with a season-low 15 points before fouling out with 4:25 remaining.
After trailing for the entire first half,
the Bullets took their last lead at 29-28 on a Glaser layup
with 15:31 left before Gonzalez went to work.
The freshman forward sandwiched a pair
of 3-point plays around a Godino driving layup for a quick
8-0 run that put the Falcons ahead to stay at 36-29 with 13:13
remaining.
Glaser pulled Gettysburg within 42-39
on a 3-point play of his own at the 9:51 mark, but it was
as close as the visitors would get the rest of the way.
Two free throws from Gonzalez and a 3-pointer
by Akinnagbe on back-to-back possessions touched off a 20-1
Messiah run over a span of 7 minutes, 25 seconds that turned
a close game into a 62-40 Falcon lead with 4:25 left.
Gonzalez capped his career day with eight
points in the game’s final 3:44 to eclipse the 30-point mark.
Thanks to three straight field goals
from Gonzalez to open the game, Messiah took a quick 6-0 lead
and stayed on top throughout a low-scoring first half.
A tough driving layup by Justin
Harrison (Washington, DC/St. John’s College) pulled
the Bullets within 9-8 midway through the opening half, but
Godino answered with a 3-pointer and Gonzalez converted two
free throws for a 14-10 Falcon lead with 10:55 remaining before
the break.
A backdoor layup and free throw from
Dami Oloruntoba (Glenn Dale, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt)
again pulled Gettysburg within one at 16-15. Gonzalez, however,
answered with a layup for the last of his 12 first-half points
and Akinnagbe converted a steal into a breakaway layup to
give Messiah its largest lead at 21-15.
Kyle Jakobe (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh/Peddie
[NJ]) stroked a 3-pointer with 55 seconds left to
snap a 4-minute, 11-second Bullet scoring drought and cut
the deficit to three entering the locker room.
Jakobe then scored the first five points
of the second half on a backdoor layup and 3-pointer to give
Gettysburg its first lead of the game at 23-21 just 42 seconds
into the half.
Oloruntoba finished with nine points
for the Bullets while Jakobe chipped in with eight.
Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday
at home against Lincoln. Game time is 8 p.m.
-30-
