Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti [Md.]), the nation's sixth-leading shot blocker put up his first career double-double with 15-points and a career-high 11 rebounds, but was held without a block for the first 39 minutes on Wednesday night. He came up with two swats in the final 33 seconds to help Gettysburg hold on for the 65-58 upset of No. 24 Johns Hopkins in Centennial Conference (CC) action at Bream Gymnasium.

With a win on Saturday, or a McDaniel loss on Thursday or Saturday, Gettysburg will lock up a berth in the 2007 Centennial Conference tournament. A win would give the Bullets (11-12, 9-8 CC) the fourth seed and the right to host the opening round game.

Sophomore guard Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) led the Bullets with 20 points on the night, helping the team get over .500 in conference play for the first time all year after starting out 0-5. The victory also marks the first time Gettysburg has beaten a ranked foe since knocking off the Blue Jays in 2002-03 when they were ranked 17th in the nation. Senior center Brian Sateja (Morristown, N.J./Delbarton School) came up a rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. He also tied for the team high with four assists.

The Blue Jays (20-4, 14-3 CC) got a game-high 22 points from senior guard T.J. Valerio. Junior guard Doug Polster added 11 points in the losing effort. Senior center Matt Griffin, who has averaged nearly 20 points per game since the beginning of January, was held to just eight points on the night on 3-of-8 (.375) shooting. He came into the game ranked seventh in the nation with a .638 field goal percentage.

Both teams started the game as red-hot as the weather was ice-cold outside the building. Johns Hopkins sank 10 of its first 12 field goal attempts (.833), including five straight to open the game, and scored 25 points in the game's first 11:56. The visitors had just a one-point edge at the point, however, because Gettysburg was shooting 56.3 percent (9-for-16) and had forced eight turnovers while committing just three.

The Blue Jays got their largest lead of the night at four points, 10-6, on Valerio's second 3-pointer at the 15:49 mark of the first half. He would convert on 3-of-7 from long range for the game. The Bullets kept pace with their guests and got their first lead on a Capkin layup with 13:13 to go, making the score 13-12. Valerio drilled another triple at the other end, but Spierenburg immediately connected for a trey of his own.

The teams traded the lead back and forth for the remainder of the half. Gettysburg would lead by as many as three after a free throw by sophomore guard Renato Tambellini (Millville, N.J./Sacred Heart) with 2:56 to go before halftime. Sophomore guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) broke the game's sixth tie by making the first of two free throws with 1:00 showing on the clock. Just 35 seconds later, Blue Jays' senior forward Zack Armen made a layup, giving his team what would be its final lead of the game. Gettysburg weaved through traffic to the other end, where Nevolo drained a 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go, sending the Bullets to the locker room with a two-point lead, 35-33. Nevolo scored six points on the night.

In the final eight minutes of the opening half, the Blue Jays had cooled considerably from the field, making just two of their final 10 shots (.200). That icy shooting would continue in the second half, as the visitors made only 8-of-34 (.235) from the field. For the game, Johns Hopkins shot 35.7 percent (20-for-56), nearly 14 percent worse than its conference-leading .495 mark heading into the game.

Valerio put the Blue Jays on the board first after the break, tying the game at 35-35 on a jumper at the 17:50 mark. That would be the final tie of the game, as the Bullets ripped off a 21-3 run over a 6:23 stretch. Sateja started it with a layup at the 16:39 mark, and Capkin scored back-to-back buckets on the Bullets' next two trips. Gettysburg employed a full-court press and did a good job in limiting Johns Hopkins to one shot on most trips during the run. A Spierenburg 3-pointer at the 10:16 mark put the Bullets up by 18, 56-38.

Polster and freshman guard Patrick O'Connell nailed back-to-back threes for the Blue Jays, cutting the lead to 12 points in less than 20 seconds. Those buckets sparked a 16-4 run for Johns Hopkins that cut the deficit to six points at 60-54 with 4:24 to go. Following a Bullet turnover and a missed shot, Gettysburg called a timeout, after which Capkin made a jumper to push the lead back to eight points.
Valerio pulled it to within six again at 62-56 with 2:20 to play, but Johns Hopkins missed its next five shots. Spierenburg rejected a Valerio layup with 33 ticks remaining and swatted a Griffin offering out of bounds with at the 0:11 mark. Polster would pull his team within five with seven seconds left. Nevolo then converted on a pair of free throws at the other game to seal the deal.

Gettysburg will close out the regular season on Saturday when the Bullets travel to Carlisle, Pa., to take on Dickinson. The opening tip is set for 3 p.m.