Box Score

 Curtis McNeil (Alexandria, VA/St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes) scored a team-high 21 points and Terence Callahan (Bay Shore, NY/St. Anthony’s) added 15 to extend the Bullets’ season with a 68-59 win over the Mules (19-6) in the Centennial Conference (CC) semifinals on Wednesday.

 McNeil went 10-for-12 from the free-throw line and scored 17 in the decisive second half to move Gettysburg (19-6) within one victory of back-to-back CC championships.  The Bullets’ only other victory in Allentown over the past 15 years came in last season’s CC title game by an identical 68-59 score.

 Gettysburg will face divisional rival Franklin & Marshall on Saturday in Lancaster.  The Diplomats defeated Ursinus 70-56 in the night’s other semifinal game.

 Jim Natale (Washington Crossing, PA/Council Rock) scored 10 points and nearly posted his second career double-double with a team-high eight rebounds in the win.

 Michael Barletta scored a team-best 13 points for the Mules while Mark Lesko, named 2002 CC Player of the Year on Tuesday, added 10 points on 3-of-15 shooting thanks to a strong defensive effort from Bullet center Kevin Boyle (Pennsburg, PA/Lansdale Catholic).  Lesko also led all players with 11 rebounds.

 Similar to January’s meeting in Allentown, Gettysburg found itself in a tight game heading down the stretch.  Unlike that regular season game, the Bullets held off the Mules to claim a rare victory in Memorial Hall.

 The Bullets built a 43-34 lead in the first 5:30 of the second half only to watch Muhlenberg go on a 14-2 run and take a 48-45 advantage with 10:18 to play.

 McNeil answered with consecutive layups and Callahan scored in transition to put Gettysburg ahead to stay at 51-48.

 A put-back from Lesko and layups from Barletta and Anthony Strachan pulled the Mules within 56-54, but the home team would get no closer in the game’s final 5:03.

 Natale, who entered the game shooting 58 percent from the free-throw line, converted both ends of a one-and-one situation and Callahan drilled a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to make it 61-56.

 Two free throws apiece from John Schnebly (Hagerstown, MD/South Hagerstown) and McNeil pushed the advantage to 65-54 before J.P. Pawlowski nailed a trey to break a 3-minute, 26-second scoring drought with 1:37 left.

 Natale went 3-for-4 from the line in the final 1:25 to ice the victory.

 The two teams fought to a 29-29 standstill in the first half, with the Bullets hitting 12 of 21 shots to overcome 12 turnovers.

 Barletta scored five of his nine first-half points to help the Mules take a quick 8-4 lead in the game’s opening 3:16 before Schnebly and Callahan nailed 3-pointers to spark an 8-0 Gettysburg run that made it 12-8.

 Barletta’s pull-up from the wing pushed the Muhlenberg lead to 20-16, but the Bullets responded with the game’s next seven points.

 Barletta drilled another pull-up to make it 29-25, but McNeil hit two free throws and Callahan scored on a cutting layup with 11 ticks left to knot the game heading into the locker room.

 With his 21-point outing, McNeil jumped to eighth on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,164 points.  Gettysburg, which was outrebounded 37-18 by the Mules in January, held a 33-31 edge on the glass this time around.

 Lesko finished eighth on Muhlenberg’s all-time scoring list with 1,399 career points. The Bullets advance to their third CC championship game on Saturday at Franklin & Marshall.  Game time is 2 p.m.

 Gettysburg fell to the Diplomats in 1996 before taking the title last year.  The two teams split their season series, with the home team winning both times.