Box Score

CHESTER, Pa. – Gettysburg whittled a 17-point deficit down to three late in the game, but Widener held the 15th-ranked Bullets to five points over the final two minutes and the Pride came away with an 80-75 non-conference men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the Schwartz Center.

The Bullets (4-2), who dropped their second straight game after starting the season 4-0, trailed for nearly the entire afternoon before making their late comeback.

Gettysburg lost back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 20-24, 2007.

The two teams were playing for the first time since Dec. 27, 1991, and the Pride won their fifth straight game in the all-time series that dates back to 1973.

Sophomore center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) led Gettysburg, leading all scorers with 23 points while pulling down 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Senior guards Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) and Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) added 18 points and 15 points, respectively, while sophomore forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) tied his career-high with 13 points off the bench.

Junior guard Brendan Hager (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) distributed a game- and career-high six assists for the Bullets, who had an assist on 23 of their 26 field goals. Senior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti [Md.]) added five rebounds and five assists.

Capkin passed Bob Parker (1960-62) for eighth on Gettysburg's career scoring list while pushing his total to 1,207.

Senior guard Charles Jones paced Widener (7-3) with 22 points while sophomore guard Chris McDevitt added 18 points off the bench. Senior guard Nyere Miller posted 14 points while junior forward Jamarr Johnson had 12 points. Senior center Matt Sosna notched eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Both teams struggled to hold onto the ball, as Gettysburg, facing a full-court press for much of the game, committed 23 turnovers while Widener gave the ball away 19 times.

Some sloppy ball-handling put the Bullets behind the 8-ball in the early going, as they committed 15 of their turnovers in the opening period. In the meantime, the Pride shot a scorching 58.3% (7-of-12) from three-point range in the first half, including three in the final two minutes.

An early 12-2 run in which Widener forced six turnovers gave the Pride a 12-4 lead 4:40 into the game. Widener's lead reached double digits when McDevitt canned his first three-pointer of the game, making it 16-6 with 14:05 on the clock.

The Bullets pulled to within five (22-17) after a 5-0 spurt, capped by a Capkin three-pointer with 9:16 showing. But the Pride came right back with a 7-2 run to restore its 10-point advantage (29-19) with 6:11 to go.

Widener pushed its lead to 14 (37-23) with 3:47 left after an 8-1 spurt. Gettysburg cut it to 10 (37-27) after a Powers jumper with 2:32 remaining, but that's when the Pride nailed their three late treys, getting two from McDevitt and one from Miller that gave the hosts their largest lead of the game (46-29) with 58 seconds to go. Onyi Ezeala made 1-of-2 free throws with 26 ticks showing to give Widener a 47-31 lead at the break.

The Bullets shot just 29.2% from the field in the opening half but went 86.7% (13-of-15) at the foul line.

Gettysburg outscored the Pride 8-2 to start the second half to pull to within 10 (49-39) with 17:24 left after back-to-back threes from Capkin and Dorsey. However, Widener came right back with five straight points to up its lead back to 15. But the Bullets refused to go away and got back into single digits (59-50) on a Kennedy lay-up with 11:49 remaining.

A reverse lay-up from Powers made it a 63-56 game with 8:32 to go, but Widener led by 10 (70-60) with 5:52 left following a pair of Jones free throws. But that's when Capkin and Powers helped the Bullets rattle off a 9-2 run to make it a one-possession game (72-69) with 2:19 left.

Capkin got things started, nailing a three-pointer in transition before Powers broke the press with a lay-up to make it 72-65. Capkin followed up with a lay-up off a nice feed from Hager before a spectacular play from Powers. Driving hard down the lane, Powers dropped in an acrobatic, left-handed lay-up in traffic, drawing the Bullets to within three.

Johnson converted Widener's final field goal of the night, scoring a lay-up with the shot clock winding down with 1:41 left. Gettysburg nearly pulled back to within three, but Capkin was whistled for an offensive foul as his driving lay-up fell through the net with 56 seconds remaining.

While Gettysburg missed its next four shots, the Pride split a pair of trips to the foul line to bump their lead to seven (76-69) before a catch-and-shoot trey from Kennedy off an in-bound pass made it 77-72 with 14.9 seconds left. Jones hit 1-of-2 free throws with 13.9 seconds remaining before Dorsey drained a three from the right elbow to make it a three-point game (78-75) once again with 7.7 seconds to go. However, McDevitt finished off his big game by canning a pair of fouls shots with 6.8 ticks left, setting the final score.

Gettysburg shot 54.3% in the second half to finish at 44.1% for the game. However, the Bullets managed only five foul shots in the second stanza and made just one. Widener went 15-for-21 at the line in the second half and finished 21-for-29.

Gettysburg takes 19 days off for the holidays before returning to action on Jan. 2, when it takes on Juniata College at 6 p.m. in the first round of the Albright College New Year's Tournament.