Box Score
CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Erik Fromm (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) led all scorers with 19 points as Gettysburg (13-8, 9-5) knocked off Washington College (10-11, 8-6) 62-59 in a showdown of third-place Centennial Conference (CC) teams on Saturday. The win marks the Bullets' sixth consecutive win in conference play.
In the first half, Gettysburg led from the opening tip, shooting 57 percent from the floor to Washington's 28. The Bullets' largest lead of the half came on a Matt Whelan (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) three pointer with two minutes and 31 seconds left before the intermission. Whelan's trey put the Shoremen down by 18.
However, after scoring just 12 points in the opening 18 minutes of play, Washington tallied nine over the last two minutes, all on three pointers. Kyle Stem fueled the run with two of the three treys to close out the stanza, bringing the Shoremen back to within 11 at the break.
Washington continued their comeback in the second half, closing the gap to one point three times in the stanza.
Another three-pointer from Stem with 12:28 left on the clock made the score 39-38, but a Whelan jumper on the other end put the Bullets back on top by three.
On the ensuing possession, Stem was fouled and hit two free throws to make it a one-point game again.
For a second time, Whelan retaliated on the offensive end, this time with a layup to restore a three point edge for Gettysburg.
The Shoremen closed the gap to a single point for a third time on a layup from Joey Breslin with 9:41 remaining.
On the next possession, it was the game's high-scorer, Fromm who would answer for the Bullets, converting a layup to put the Bullets back up by three yet again.
On the ensuing defensive stand, Mike Spadafora (Richboro, PA/Archbishop Wood) pulled down a defensive board for the Gettysburg stop. He proceeded to hit a clutch three on the offensive end to give the visitors a six-point edge, 48-42, with eight minutes and 44 seconds remaining.
Gettysburg managed to build their lead to as many as nine twice inside the final four minutes of the game, but Washington would not go quietly, as a layup from Travis Moore closed the margin to three with 1:02 on the clock.
A Gettysburg shot clock violation on the next possession gave the Shoremen the ball back with 21 ticks remaining. The Shoremen attempted a three, but Whelan rebounded the miss and was fouled with 11 seconds to play.
From the free-throw line, Whelan hit on one of his attempts to put the Bullets up by four.
A Washington three point attempt from Jonathan Webb with three seconds left was off the mark, but Gettysburg fouled Stem on the rebound.
Stem hit the first free throw to make it a three point game. He intentionally missed his second attempt, but the clock expired before either team was able to corral the miss.
Stem led the Shoremen in scoring with 18 points, and he eclipsed 1,000 career points in his collegiate career during the contest. Webb finished with 13 points while Moore added 10. Drew Hill finished with a game-high six assists.
Fromm added eight rebounds to his 19 points off the bench. Whelan finished with 14 points for the Bullets, while Julius Redd (Gaithersburg, MD/Magruder) pulled down a game-high 10 boards.
Gettysburg out-rebounded Washington by a margin of 43 to 24 and shot 52 percent from the field to the Shoremen 35 percent to overcome committing ten more turnovers than the home team and pick up a key CC road victory. The Bullets never trailed in the win.
Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday against Ursinus. Game time is 8:00 p.m.
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