Box Score
BALTIMORE – Freshman center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) scored a game-high 25 points while junior guard Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) added 17 as the Gettysburg College men's basketball team won its seventh game in a row, topping host Johns Hopkins University 67-56 in Centennial Conference action Wednesday evening.
Gettysburg (18-3, 13-2 CC), which is on its longest winning streak since the 2004-05 season, has guaranteed itself no worse than a second-place finish in the final conference standings. Earlier on Wednesday, it was announced that Gettysburg was the No. 2-ranked team in the Middle Atlantic Region based on the first NCAA Division III regional poll.
The Bullets led for most the night and saw its advantage reach 10 on two occasions in the second half, although Johns Hopkins (13-9, 9-6 CC), which entered the night holding third place in the Centennial standings, rallied to make it a one-possession game in the closing minutes. However, the Blue Jays failed to score over the final 2:09.
Kevin Roach scored the final points of the night for Hopkins, when his lay-up made it 57-56. It was still a one-possession game (59-56) when Gettysburg called timeout with 1:24 left, but junior guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) gave the Bullets some breathing room 20 seconds later, hitting his first three-pointer of the season.
Hopkins went on to miss four straight treys inside the final minute while Dorsey (3-for-4) and Powers (2-for-2) iced the game at the line for Gettysburg.
Powers, who tied his season-high in scoring, shot 9-for-13 from the field and 7-for-8 at the foul line while grabbing eight rebounds. Dorsey was 5-for-8 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc while junior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti (Md.)) had an outstanding all-around night, posting eight points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and five blocks. With his fourth block of the night, he moved past Cam Shribner (Haverford, 2000-03) and into second on the Centennial Conference career list, lifting his current total to 213. His final swat of the night tied his own single-season school record of 86 that he set last season.
Four Blue Jays scored in double figures, with Roach and Doug Polster each scoring 12 and Pat O'Connell and Andrew Farber-Miller netting 10 apiece.
The Bullets took their first lead of the game when Powers converted a conventional three-point play with 12:51 left in the opening stanza, and Gettysburg would not trail the rest of the half. Dorsey's second trey of the night 26 seconds later capped an 8-0 run that put the Orange & Blue on top 13-9, and Gettysburg enjoyed its largest lead of the half (23-17) following a Spierenburg lay-up with 6:00 showing. But the Blue Jays held the Bullets scoreless over the next three minutes and tied the game after an O'Connell jumper.
Another O'Connell bucket made it 25-25 with 1:42 to go, but Spierenburg hit a pair of free throws with 38 seconds remaining and the Bullets took a 27-25 lead into the locker room.
Neither team shot well in the opening half, with Gettysburg hitting on 36.0% of its attempts and Hopkins connecting at a 35.7% clip. Spierenburg paced the Bullets with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, and three blocks in the period.
The Bullets came out hot at the start of the second half, reeling off an 8-0 run to assume their first double-digit lead (35-25) of the night with 17:24 showing. Junior guard Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) accounted for six points over the stretch, hitting a pair of three-pointers sandwiched around a Powers jumper. However, the Blue Jays climbed right back into it by scoring the next six points, with a Farber-Miller lay-up making it 35-31 with 15:48 on the clock.
Hopkins came all the way back to take its only lead of the half (40-39) following a Polster three-pointer with 11:45 left. But freshman forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) dropped in a lay-up with 10:32 to go, kicking off a 10-0 Bullet run. Dorsey scored five points during the spurt, including his third three-pointer, before Powers completed the surge with another old-fashioned three-point play, giving Gettysburg a 51-41 advantage with 7:58 left.
The Blue Jays refused to go away, however, and the hosts drew to within one (52-51) following a 10-1 run, capped by a pair of O'Connell free throws with 3:45 to go. Dorsey stemmed the rally with his last three-ball, but the Jays made it a one-point game on two more occasions, the last coming on Roach's late bucket.
Gettysburg shot 46.8% for the game and went 88.9% (16-of-18) at the foul line. Johns Hopkins had a 39.8% shooting night and managed only seven points (7-for-11) at the charity stripe.
The Bullets continue their season on Saturday, when they host Swarthmore College at 1 p.m. in another Centennial Conference affair.
