Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Senior guard Tim Kohlrus scored five of his team-high 21 points in the final 57 seconds and Washington (Md.) College withstood a potential game-winning shot at the buzzer as the Shoremen defeated No. 25 Gettysburg 64-62 in a Centennial Conference men's basketball nailbiter Saturday afternoon in Bream Gymnasium.

Washington (9-10, 6-6 CC) led 63-62 with five seconds left when Kohlrus was fouled off an inbound pass following a Gettysburg bucket. With his team in the double bonus, he hit his first free throw but missed the second. Senior guard Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) grabbed the rebound and dribbled upcourt before launching a deep three from the top of the arc. However, his shot bounced off the heel of the rim and the Shoremen celebrated their first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 15 Franklin & Marshall on Feb. 1, 2003.

Gettysburg (13-5, 8-4 CC), which saw its 18-game home winning streak – the third longest in school history – come to an end, drops into third place in the Centennial Conference standings. Franklin & Marshall (9-2 CC) maintained its hold on first place with a win at Swarthmore while McDaniel (9-3 CC) took over sole possession of second after a two-point win at Muhlenberg.

Sophomore center Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown) led the Bullets with a game-high 24 points and eight rebounds while Capkin added 20 points. Senior forward Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti [Md.]) grabbed nine rebounds, and senior guard Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) distributed a game- and season-high seven assists.

With its win, Washington snapped a 10-game losing streak against Gettysburg, topping the Bullets for the first time since Jan. 13, 2004 and earning its first win in Bream since Jan. 25, 1997. The Shoremen are now in a five-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings.

A back-and-forth affair, the game featured 10 ties and eight lead changes.

The Bullets held Washington scoreless over a 3:41 stretch while scoring seven unanswered points to take a 49-44 lead with 6:52 left following a Powers lay-up. It was still a five-point game less than a minute later before the Shoremen ran off a 7-0 run to take a 53-51 lead after a pair of Todd Green free throws with 5:13 showing.

The lead changed hands four more times the rest of the way, and Powers gave the Bullets their final lead when he dropped in a lay-up with 2:58 showing, making it 59-57.

Junior forward Alan Kines tied it up with a pair of free throws with 2:25 left before Kohlrus gave Washington the lead for good, dropping in a floater from the right baseline with 57 seconds remaining to make it 61-59.

On the ensuing possession Capkin drew a foul driving down the lane, and he went 1-for-2 at the line with 26 ticks showing to cut the lead to one. But Gettysburg was forced to foul, and three seconds later Kohlrus nailed a pair of free throws as the Shoremen assumed a 63-60 advantage.

Capkin then misfired on a potential game-tying three-pointer before Kohlrus was fouled for the last time with five seconds left.

Kines finished with 13 points for the Shoremen while junior forward James Wall added 11 points. Junior guard Andrew Chambers notched eight points and nine rebounds for the visitors.

The Bullets started the afternoon strong, outscoring the Shoremen 14-7 to start the game with Capkin scoring the team's final eight points during the stretch on a pair of treys sandwiched around a lay-up. But midway through the half, Washington used a 9-2 run to tie the game at 18 on a Kines trifecta with 6:36 on the clock.

A minute later sophomore center Chip Naddaff (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) put the Bullets up 20-18, but the Shoremen came back with a 11-1 outburst, capped by a Kines three with 12 seconds left in the half, to make it 29-21. Capkin was fouled driving to the bucket with one second left, and he canned both free throws to make it 29-23 at the break.

Washington pushed its lead to as much as nine (36-26) with 16:57 to go after a Chambers three-pointer, but Gettysburg slowly chipped away at the deficit and tied the game (42-42) on a Capkin jumper with 11:11 to go. The Bullets came all the way back to take the lead (45-44) on a Capkin foul shot with 7:30 left, setting up an exciting finish.

Gettysburg resumes its schedule on Wednesday, when it visits Dickinson College at 7:30 p.m. in another Centennial Conference affair.