Box Score
CARLISLE, Pa. – Junior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti (Md.)) scored a season-high 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and blocked four shots as Gettysburg held off several late Dickinson runs to defeat the Red Devils 69-58 in the Centennial Conference opener for both teams at the Kline Center Wednesday evening.
Gettysburg, which won its conference opener for the first time since the 2004-05 campaign, is now 4-0 for the first time since the 2001-02 squad opened the season 8-0.
Junior guard Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. Johns at Prospect Hall) scored 16 of his 19 points in the first half for the Bullets while junior guard Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) pumped in 10 of his 12 points in the second stanza. Freshman center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) added 10 points and eight rebounds for Gettysburg.
Kizmar Grell led Dickinson (3-2, 0-1 CC) with 13 points while Tom Leszcynski posted 12 points and 18 rebounds.
The Bullets trailed only twice, at 2-0 and 4-2, before an 8-0 run gave Gettysburg the lead for good. Dorsey kicked off the spurt with a right-wing three-pointer, putting the Bullets in front to stay. Spierenburg followed up with a jumper from the left elbow as the shot clock expired, then converted a conventional three-point play to give his team a 10-4 advantage.
The Red Devils kept it close in the early going, however, thanks in large part to a whopping 13-0 advantage on the offensive glass. Dickinson tied it twice, the last coming on a Matt Dolan three-pointer with 9:42 on the clock that made it 20-20. But that's when the Bullets reeled off a 12-2 run to assume their first double-digit lead (32-22) of the night.
Balanced scoring did the trick during the run, with five field goals coming from five different players. Dorsey started the surge with the third of his four first-half three-pointers, and it was followed by a baseline jumper from freshman forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard), an up-and-under bucket from Powers, and a fastbreak lay-up from Capkin. Spierenburg's first three-pointer of the season capped the run and gave Gettysburg its 10-point lead, prompting a Dickinson timeout at 4:41.
The Bullets pushed their lead to 10 twice more, the last coming on a Powers lay-up with 2:00 remaining, before a driving lay-up from Cory Kenny made it an eight-point game (37-29) at the half.
Gettysburg shot 62.5% in the opening half while Dickinson connected on just 31.7% of its attempts. Dorsey shot 4-for-5 from beyond the arc in the period.
Dickinson continued to chip away in the second half, pulling to within one on two occasions, but the Devils were unable to come all the way back.
The Bullets led by nine (40-31) early in the second half following a Powers lay-up before Dickinson answered with an 8-0 run to draw to within one after a pair of Grell free throws with 15:13 left. But Capkin stopped the bleeding with a pair of buckets, nailing a pull-up jumper from the right baseline and getting a friendly roll on a driving lay-up with 13:21 on the clock, making it 44-39.
The Red Devils put together a 6-1 spurt midway through the half, making it a one-point game (46-45) after a Grell fastbreak lay-up with 8:41 to go. But that's when Gettysburg called a timeout, and the Bullets responded with a 7-0 run to push their lead to eight following a Capkin trey with 5:15 remaining. Junior guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) started the decisive stretch with a pair of free throws on a one-and-one opportunity, and Spierenburg followed up with a slashing drive in the lane.
Dickinson crept to within four (57-53) after a Crouch fade-hook with 1:48 to go, then again on a Dolan trey from the right corner that made it 60-56. But the Devils missed their final four field goal attempts and managed only a pair of late free throws the rest of the way. In the meantime, the Bullets found their touch at the foul line after an 8-for-18 start at the charity stripe. Gettysburg made nine of its final 10 foul shots, with Nevolo and Powers each going 4-for-4 during the stretch, to put the game away.
The Bullets cooled off from the field in the second half, shooting just 32.0% to finish at 46.9% for the night. Dickinson shot 32.3% over the final 20 minutes and 31.9% for the game.
Dickinson out-rebounded the Bullets 47-33, including 20-4 on the offensive boards.
Gettysburg continues its Centennial Conference schedule on Saturday, when it hosts Ursinus College at 2 p.m.
