Box Score

SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Sophomore guard Sango Amolo (Falls Church, Va./McLean) scored a career-high 20 points, but the Gettysburg College men's basketball team dropped a 69-65 decision at Swarthmore College in its Centennial Conference opener Saturday afternoon.

Chris Bourne led all players with 22 points and seven rebounds for Swarthmore (1-3, 1-0 CC), which earned its first victory of the season. Jay Kober added 19 points for the Garnet.

Senior forward Connor Poston (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) contributed 13 points for Gettysburg (1-3, 0-1 CC) while freshman center Tanner Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) grabbed seven rebounds.

The Bullets led just once on the day but trailed by single digits for most of the afternoon. It was a four-point game with 7:52 remaining, but that's when Swarthmore opened up some breathing room with a 9-3 run, eventually pushing its lead to 13. A 12-3 surge inside the final minute reduced the deficit down to four, but Gettysburg's comeback ran out of time.

Gettysburg struggled offensively in the early going, as Swarthmore built a 16-6 lead with 11:30 left in the opening half. Gettysburg turned the tables, however, outscoring the Garnet 16-6 over the remainder of the period to knot the score at 22-all heading into the locker room. Swarthmore led 22-18 after a Seth Liebert 3-pointer with 4:38 on the clock, but a Kirkpatrick tip-in with 3:01 left and a Joe Emerusabe (Derwood, Md./Magruder) jumper with 15 ticks showing pulled Gettysburg even.

The Orange and Blue took their only lead of the day when Kirkpatrick knocked down a jumper 30 seconds into the second half. But the Garnet answered with a 12-4 run and would not trail the rest of the way. An 8-2 spurt pulled the Bullets within two (36-34) after an Amolo lay-up with 12:29 to go, but that's as close as Gettysburg would get. Amolo completed a conventional 3-point play with 7:52 on the clock to make it 46-42 before Swarthmore began to pull away.

The Garnet led 64-51 with 58 seconds left but the Bullets refused to go quietly. Sophomore forward Kevin Gladstone (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) hit a pair of free throws and Emerusabe hit a jumper before freshman forward Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) and Amolo nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 66-61 with 22 seconds left.

After Swarthmore split its third straight trip to the foul line, Emerusabe dropped in a lay-up with 14 seconds to go to bring the Bullets to within four (67-63) again. But Bourne got free for a dunk before Amolo set the final score with a lay-up in the closing seconds.

Gettysburg returns to action on Tuesday, when it hosts defending Centennial Conference champion Dickinson College at 8 p.m.