Box Score

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Sophomore forward Tanner Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) scored a career-high 24 points and the Gettysburg College men's basketball team made its final six free throws to hold on for a 69-66 non-conference victory at Wilkes University Tuesday afternoon.
 
Senior guard Sean Gordon (Broomall, Pa./Malvern Prep) added 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists for the Bullets (6-3), who were playing for the first time in 20 days due to semester break. Sophomore forward Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg), making his first start of the season, contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
 
Steve Stravinski scored 19 points while shooting 5-for-10 from 3-point range to lead the Colonels (6-4) while Cameron Hinkel and Zachary Brunner posted 14 and 12 points, respectively.
 
It was the second career 20-point game for Kirkpatrick, who shot 8-for-15 from the field and 6-for-8 from the foul line.
 
Gettysburg enjoyed its largest lead of the game (61-54) after junior forward Kevin Gladstone (Havertown, Pa./Haverford), who sat out much of the game due to foul trouble, converted a conventional 3-point play. But Wilkes pulled to within three on its next trip down the floor after a lay-up and a pair of free throws due to a foul away from the ball.
 
Kiefer banked in a tough runner to put the Bullets up five (63-58) before Stavinski answered with a trey from the right corner to cut the deficit to two with 23 seconds to go. The Colonels were forced to foul the rest of the way, and Kirkpatrick hit a pair at the charity stripe to make it 65-61 with 20 ticks showing.
 
Stavinski tossed in an off-balance 3-pointer with 13 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but Kiefer sunk a pair at the line to nudge his team's lead back to three. The Bullets chose to intentionally foul in the backcourt, and Tyler Jackson knocked down two shots to make it 67-66 with 4.6 seconds left. But Gordon iced the game when he nailed two free throws less than a second later and a halfcourt heave at the buzzer was off the mark.
 
The Colonels outscored Gettysburg 12-5 to start the game, but the Bullets answered with a 10-4 spurt to pull to within one. Kirkpatrick scored seven points along the way, and his lay-up with 13:06 left made it a 16-15 game.
 
Wilkes scored the next four points to push its lead to five with 12:30 on the clock, but that's when the Orange and Blue dug in defensively, holding the hosts scoreless over the next 5:11. In the meantime, Gettysburg scored seven straight points, and a put-back from freshman forward Cameron Stewart (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) with 5:39 showing gave the Bullets their first lead (22-20) since the opening minutes.
 
The remainder of the half featured one tie and three lead changes. Kirkpatrick scored the final five points for the Bullets but Stavinski scored the last eight for Wilkes. His floater with 1:45 on the clock made it 30-29 in favor of the Colonels, and it held up as the halftime score.
 
It was a nip-and-tuck affair for most of the second half, which featured four ties and three lead changes. Gordon tied the game at 49-all with a 3-pointer at the 5:21 mark, and Gettysburg took the lead for good after a 7-0 spurt minutes later. Kirkpatrick opened the run with a lay-up to deadlock the score at 51 before Kiefer's lay-in with 4:06 left put the Bullets in front to stay. Gordon capped the surge with a triple from the left elbow to make it 56-51.
 
Hinkel brought Wilkes back into it with a 3-pointer with 3:55 remaining, but a lay-up from senior guard Joe Emerusabe (Derwood, Md./Magruder) made it a 58-54 game with 2:19 left, setting up Gladstone's big 3-point play.
 
The Bullets finished 19-for-26 at the foul line, tying their season-high for free throws made. Gettysburg shot a red-hot 68.4 percent (13-for-19) from the field in the second half to finish at 51.2 percent for the game.
 
Gettysburg returns to action on Friday, when it visits New York University at 2 p.m.in the NYU Tournament in New York City.