Box Score

READING, Pa. – Gettysburg withstood a furious late-game rally to win the Albright College Tournament Saturday afternoon, as the Bullets topped the host Lions 62-60 in the championship game.

The Bullets (6-2) saw an 18-point lead with 9:22 left wither to one in the final 21 seconds. However, sophomore center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) hit a pair of clutch free throws with 19 seconds remaining before senior guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) made 1-of-2 foul shots with eight ticks showing to help seal the victory.

Senior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti [Md.]) was named tournament MVP after scoring seven points and grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds in the championship game. He also had nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, and five blocks against Juniata in the first round.

Powers and senior guard Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) each captured a spot on the all-tournament team. Powers notched 13 points and five assists against Albright while Dorsey poured in a game-high 17 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting.

Albright (9-4) was led by Matt Ashcroft, who nearly single-handedly brought his team from behind. He came off the bench to score all 15 of his points in the final 8:50. He shot 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and was 5-for-6 from long range in the final nine minutes.

A lay-up from sophomore forward Kevin Kennedy (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) gave the Bullets a 51-33 lead with 9:22 left, but that's when Ashcroft kicked off Albright's rally with three straight treys, cutting the lead to single digits (51-42) with 6:09 on the clock.

Dorsey connected from downtown to make it a 54-42 game with 5:40 left, and his two free throws with 1:50 to go made it 57-46. However, Ashcroft wasn't done yet, drilling a three 10 seconds later and hitting another with 50 seconds left to pull the Lions to within seven (57-50). Adam Van Zelst hit a trey of his own with 35 seconds remaining to make it a four-point game, and after Nevolo missed the front end of a one-and-one, Andre Murphy converted a conventional three-point play to make it a one-point game (59-58) with 21 seconds left.

The Bullets then called a timeout before the Lions put Powers on the line, where he drained both shots in a one-and-one situation. Phil Hall came back with a lay-up to make it 61-60 before Nevolo knocked down the first of his two free throws.

The Lions had a chance to tie it but Murphy missed a jumper just before the buzzer. Zac Shaeffer grabbed the offensive rebound but was unable to get a shot off.

For the second game in a row, Gettysburg opened the game strong. After starting with a 16-2 run against Juniata on Friday, the Bullets jumped to a 15-5 lead against the Lions. Five different players scored during the spurt, with Kennedy contributing the last five on a lay-up and a three-pointer. The Bullets enjoyed at least a six-point lead over the remainder of the half before closing the period on a 7-0 run to take a 32-19 lead into the locker room. Powers started the spurt with a conventional three-point play before Nevolo converted a lay-up. Powers capped the run with another bucket, giving him a game-high 10 points at the break.

Back-to-back treys from Dorsey upped the Bullets advantage to 17 (42-25) with 14:19 showing, and Gettysburg led by as much as 18 on three occasions.

Murphy finished with 11 points for Albright while Hall added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Both were named to the all-tournament team, along with Richard Jean-Baptiste of Brooklyn College.

Brooklyn defeated Juniata 89-64 in the consolation game.

Gettysburg returns to action on Wednesday, when it visits Washington (Md.) College at 7:30 p.m. in a Centennial Conference match-up.