Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Sophomore guard Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. Johns at Prospect Hall) came off the bench to score a career-high 20 points and lead Gettysburg to a 60-51 win over Muhlenberg in the first round of the Centennial Conference (CC) tournament on Wednesday night at Bream Gymnasium. The Bullets advance to the semifinals to take on top-seeded Johns Hopkins.

With the win, Gettysburg (13-12) has a winning overall record for the first time this season. The Bullets have won 11 of 14 since starting the season 2-9.

Dorsey was 8-for-15 (.533) from the field and added five rebounds and two steals. He has set career highs for points in each of the last two games after connecting for 19 on Saturday at Dickinson. He was joined in double figures by sophomore forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti [Md.]), who posted his second career double-double with 12 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds. He also had four blocks, reaching that mark for the 12th time on the year. Sophomore guard Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion), who was named to the 2007 All-Centennial Conference first team earlier in the day, scored 10 points.

The Mules (10-15) got a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double form senior forward Tom Scott. Classmate Chris Huber closed his career with 12 points and two rebounds.

Huber got his team on the board first, nailing a 3-pointer with less than a minute gone. Capkin would respond nearly two minutes later to tie it up, but senior guard Christopher Strachan put his team ahead with another triple, and a Scott jumper at the 16:39 mark gave Muhlenberg its largest lead of the game at 8-3.

A jumper by sophomore guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) with 12:24 to go before the half gave the Bullets their first lead of the game at 11-10. Nevolo finished the night with six points. The other four came on critical free throws in the last 1:01 of the game.

Gettysburg began to build a sizeable lead midway through the first half. A 3-pointer by senior center Mike Beck (Clearwater, Fla./Clearwater) pushed the lead to 10 points at 22-12 with 7:40 to go in the first. Scott pulled it back to within eight on a jumper the next time down the floor, but a traditional three-point play by Dorsey at the 6:21 mark gave the Bullets their largest lead of the night, 11 points, at 25-14.

The teams traded scores back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, and Huber made a jumper with 52 seconds showing on the clock to pull Muhlenberg to within seven at 31-24 heading into the locker room.

The visitors opened the second frame on a 15-4 run over the first 7:21 to go back in front by four points at 39-35. The back-and-forth pace resumed at that point, and the Mules were able to hold onto the lead for another 6:31. By then, Gettysburg senior center Brian Sateja (Morristown, N.J./Delbarton School) had already made the first of two free throws to start what would become a 12-0 run.

Spierenburg made a jumper in the paint with 6:08 to play, tying the game at 43-43. A jumper and a 3-pointer by Dorsey over a 1:14 span put the Bullets up for good at 48-43 with 3:00 left.

After Spierenburg got a rebound, senior forward Julius Redd was fouled and missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Dorsey collected the offensive board. Following a Gettysburg timeout, the home team missed a pair of shots, but got the offensive rebound on both with Dorsey tipping the second one in to give his team a seven-point lead with 1:12 to play.

Nevolo then collected a missed Mules' shot and made the first two of his four free throws, putting Gettysburg back up by nine points, at 52-43 with 1:01 to play. A 3-pointer by Scott cut the lead to six at the 40-second mark before Nevolo made two more free throws. Muhlenberg senior guard Chris Pothering drilled another three with 30 ticks on the clock to cut it back to five points at 54-49. Redd made a pair of free throws, and Nevolo made a steal and fed Spierenburg who had half the court in front of him to set up a dunk that appeared to be the exclamation point on the game.

However, Capkin would commit back-to-back fouls that sent Pothering to the line for a pair of freebies, which he sank. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Spierenburg found Redd streaking down the left sideline all alone for a thunderous dunk that brought a raucous crowd to its feet and set the final score.

The Bullets will travel to Baltimore, Md., on Saturday to take on top-seeded Johns Hopkins in a 2 p.m. semifinal at Goldfarb Gymnasium. Second-seeded Ursinus will take on No. 3 seed Haverford at approximately 4 p.m. with the winners meeting at 3 p.m. on Sunday for the 2007 Centennial Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA Division III tournament.