Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg went 5-for-6 at the foul line inside the final minute and the Bullets held off a late McDaniel rally, defeating the Green Terror 53-48 in the regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon on Senior Day in Bream Gymnasium.
With its win, coupled with Ursinus' overtime victory over Muhlenberg, the Bullets (16-8, 11-7 CC) clinch third place in the Centennial Conference standings and will receive a first-round bye in the upcoming conference playoffs. Gettysburg and McDaniel, which earned the two seed, will face off in a rematch next Saturday in the semifinals at tournament host Franklin & Marshall College at a time to be determined.
Sophomore center
Andrew Powers (Boyertown, Pa./Boytertown) scored a game-high 17 points and snared seven rebounds for the Bullets while coming off the bench for the first time in his career. Senior guard
Dan Capkin (Wynnewood, Pa./Lower Merion) added 16 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting while backcourt mate
Corey Dorsey (Frederick, Md./St. John's at Prospect Hall) contributed 12 points and five rebounds. Capkin became just the second player in school history to hit 200 three-pointers with his first trey of the game, and he also dished out his 200th career assist. Senior forward
Joe Spierenburg (Chambersburg, Pa./St. Maria Goretti [Md.]) also grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots, the first of which was the 300th of his career.
Senior guard
Chris Nevolo (Neshanic Station, N.J./Somerville) also made his final regular season home appearance for Gettysburg and finished with four points. Senior center
Jack Kern (Franklin Lakes, N.J./Indian Hills) made his first collegiate start and recorded one rebound and one blocked shot.
Senior center Josh McKay posted 14 points and seven rebounds to lead McDaniel (18-7, 13-5 CC) while senior forward Chad Arrington led all players with 10 rebounds. Senior guard Ryan Finch added nine points and nine rebounds.
Gettysburg led by four with 29 seconds left when Powers went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line after being intentionally fouled in the backcourt. McKay pulled the Terror to within one when he canned a three-pointer from the top of the arc with 14 ticks showing, and McDaniel elected to put Powers back on the foul line three seconds later. But Powers knocked down both free throws this time, and Kevin Henry misfired on a three-pointer from the left elbow with five seconds remaining. Dorsey soared in for the rebound and was fouled before setting the final score with a pair of foul shots with 0.9 seconds left.
The Bullets led for most of the first half and enjoyed their largest lead of the game (18-10) after a Capkin three-pointer with 8:43 on the clock. But that's when Gettysburg fell into an elongated dry spell, scoring just two points over the next 13:41 stretching into the second half. In the meantime, McDaniel outscored the Bullets 10-2 to close the half, and an Arrington tip-in with 1:27 left made it a 20-20 game at the break.
The Green Terror stretched its lead to 24-20 when Arrington went 1-of-2 at the foul line with 15:38 left. However, the Bullets took the lead for good with 10:41, when a Dorsey drained a trey to put his team up 34-33. Gettysburg led by as much as seven twice down the stretch, the last coming on a Powers free throw with 3:13 to go. But Miguel Jones knocked down a three-pointer 16 seconds later, and after another Powers foul shot, McKay hit a jumper from the right baseline to pull McDaniel to within three (48-45) before Powers' free throw at the 29-second mark.
The Bullets held McDaniel to 32.8 percent shooting for the game while making 40.0 percent of its shots from the field. The Terror outrebounded Gettysburg 36-28 but the Bullets scored nine more points (16-7) at the foul line.
Gettysburg will be making its ninth straight appearance in the Centennial Conference playoffs and its third straight appearance in the semifinals.
