Box Score
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Junior guard Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) poured in 25 points and blocked six shots – both career-highs – as the Gettysburg College men's basketball team punched its ticket to the Thrivent for Financial Lutheran Tournament, hosted by California Lutheran University, with a 74-66 overtime victory over Bethany Lutheran College in first-round action Saturday evening.
The Bullets (7-1) will now take on California Lutheran in the title game at 8 p.m. on Sunday. The Kingsmen defeated Concordia (Wis.) University 61-50 in the other first-round game.
Gettysburg, which continued its best start since opening 8-0 in 2001-02, trailed only three times all night and led by as much as 13 in the second half before the Vikings (2-9) came storming back. The Bullets led by nine (60-51) with 3:27 left in regulation before Bethany Lutheran closed the half on a 12-3 run during which it forced four turnovers to send the game to overtime. But the Bullets regrouped in the extra session, scoring the first 10 points while the Vikings shot 1-for-8 during the five-minute period.
It was the first-ever meeting between Gettysburg and Bethany Lutheran, which hails from Mankato, Minn.
Junior guard Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) added 21 points for Gettysburg while junior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti (Md.)) tossed in 14 points, nine rebounds, and four blocks. Junior guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) pulled down a career-high nine rebounds for the Bullets while freshman center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) notched seven points and seven boards.
Dorsey went 9-for-15 from the field, setting career-highs for field goals made and attempted. He was 3-for-7 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 at the foul line.
Gettysburg overcame 20 turnovers and a 50-44 rebounding deficit with a season-high 13 blocked shots, equaling its highest output since its 52-49 win at Swarthmore on Jan. 11 of last season. The Vikings were guilty of 19 turnovers and shot just 33.3% from the field.
Andy Wills paced Bethany Lutheran with 18 points and 14 rebounds while Jeff Zimmerman posted 11 points off the bench. Tim McClure scored all eight of his points during the Vikings' late-game run.
McClure started the spurt when he converted a lay-up off a turnover, making it 60-53 with 2:27 left. He followed up with a three-pointer 27 seconds later, and a Travis Priem jumper pulled the Vikings within two (60-58) with 1:14 on the clock. The Bullets appeared to be in good shape after a Capkin three-pointer with 47 seconds remaining but McClure answered with another trey as the Vikings inched to within a bucket once again (63-61) with 38 ticks showing.
After a Bethany Lutheran timeout, the Vikings immediately came up with another steal, and Priem pulled the Vikings even with a lay-up, tying the game for the first time since it was 9-9. The Bullets had three chances to win it in the closing seconds of regulation, but Capkin misfired on a three-pointer before Spierenburg missed on a put-back. Nevolo was also off the mark on a trey just before the buzzer, and the Bullets were off to overtime for the first time since their 71-65 win over Dickinson on Feb. 17 last season.
Capkin put the Bullets on top to stay when he swished a pair of foul shots 55 seconds into overtime. Dorsey dropped in a lay-up with 3:14 left before Spierenburg put back his own miss, making it 69-63 and prompting a Viking timeout. But Capkin continued Gettysburg's surge with a free throw, and the Bullets' lead ballooned to 10 when Dorsey converted a conventional three-point play with 1:42 remaining.
Wills ended Bethany Lutheran's dry spell with an old-fashioned three-pointer of his own following a put-back at 1:03, but the Vikings were unable to get any closer, missing a pair of three-pointers inside the final minute.
The Bullets raced out to a 33-25 halftime lead, and a 7-2 spurt early in the second period gave Gettysburg its largest lead (45-32) of the night following a three-pointer from freshman forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) with 14:50 on the clock. The Vikings answered with an 11-0 run to slice the deficit to two with 10:40 to go, but Dorsey stopped the bleeding with back-to-back treys, and a pair of Kennedy free throws pushed Gettysburg's lead back into double digits (53-43) with 9:08 left. The Bullets led by at least seven before Bethany Lutheran's late run.
