Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – All five Gettysburg starters scored in double figures for the first time this season leading the Bullets to a 77-63 wire-to-wire Centennial Conference victory over visiting Haverford College Saturday afternoon at Bream Gymnasium. With the win, Gettysburg won its fifth straight home game and improved to 13-3 (8-2 CC) on the season, matching its win total from last year with eight games remaining.
The Bullets were led by juniors Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) and Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) who contributed 21 and 20 points, respectively, and combined to go 11-of-21 from beyond the arc. Capkin was 6-for-11 from three-point range while Dorsey was 5-for-10, and both players tied the career high for treys in a game.
Freshman center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) added 14 points for Gettysburg while handing out a career-high eight assists. Both junior guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerviille) and junior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti (Md.)) added 10 points. Spierenburg, the nation's second-leading shot blocker, added four more today.
Both squads got off to a slow start in the early going — with four minutes gone in the first half, Gettysburg held a slim 3-2 edge. A Powers lay-up at 15:41 jump-started the offense and was the first of six consecutive successful field goals converted by the Bullets. Gettysburg used this offensive prowess to go on a 15-5 run and attain its first double-digit lead on the afternoon with 11:54 remaining in the first half.
A three-pointer by junior guard Chaz Thomas cut the advantage to five, 22-17, with 6:56 remaining, but that's as close as the Fords (4-12, 2-8 CC) would get the rest of the game. The Bullets answered quickly with an old fashioned three-point play from Dorsey and back-to-back lay-ups from Powers, pushing their lead back to double digits, (29-17) where it would remain for the rest of the contest. That spurt was the beginning of a 17-2 run by Gettysburg that featured scoring from all five starters, and the Bullets pushed their lead up to 20 points (39-19) in the closing minute of the half. Junior forward Brent Anderson hit a lay-up for the Fords as time expired to make the halftime score 39-21 in favor of the hosts.
Gettysburg shot 14-of-25 (56 %) from the floor in the first half while holding Haverford to just 8-of-28 (28.6 %) shooting. The Bullets also assisted on 11 of those 14 buckets while committing a mere three turnovers.
The Bullets continued to showcase their offensive ability with the opening of the second stanza as Capkin and Dorsey hit threes, both assisted by Powers, on two of their first three possessions, opening up a 45-21 lead. After a jumper by Ford guard Greg Rosnick cut the lead to 20 at 15:36, Gettysburg went on an 8-0 spurt courtesy of two three-pointers by Capkin and a pair of free throws by Nevolo to open up the largest lead of the game, 55-27, with 12:46 remaining.
Haverford refused to quit, though, and responded by slowly chipping away at the Bullet lead. A 19-7 run capped with a three by junior guard Matt Stitt cut the lead to 62-46 and forced Gettysburg to call a timeout with 6:32 remaining. Despite a strong effort from the Fords, the closest they would get in the closing minutes would be the final margin of victory, 14 points. Thomas led Haverford with 18 points, 13 in the second half, while guard Mike Fratangelo added 10 and a game-high seven rebounds.
Gettysburg managed to put up 77 points against the conference's stingiest defense (60.0 ppg) — only the second time the Fords have allowed more than 75 points this season. Freshman guard Paul Crone (Braddock Heights, Md./Middletown) picked up his first collegiate points for Gettysburg with a pair of free throws in the second half.
With the win, Gettysburg remained in sole possession of second place in the conference, one game ahead of third-place McDaniel (7-3 CC). The Bullets will travel to take on the Green Terror on Wednesday at 8 p.m., the beginning of a stretch that sees Gettysburg play four of its next five on the road.
