Box Score GETTYSBURG, Pa. – For the second game in a row, the Gettysburg College men's basketball team erased a double-digit deficit, rallying from 11 points down in the second half en route to a 71-64 victory over Rutgers-Newark in the championship game of the 25th annual Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament Saturday afternoon in Bream Gym.
Tournament MVP
Cam Stewart (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) scored a career-high 23 points, none bigger than his go ahead 3-pointer with 1:11 remaining. The sophomore forward shot 7-for-9 from the field and for the tournament finished with 43 points on 14-of-19 shooting. He also scored 20 points in Gettysburg's first round win over Pitt-Bradford.
Sophomore guard
Matt England (Warrington, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) added 15 points while shooting 10-of-12 from the free-throw line and was named to the All-Tournament Team. He hit three big foul shots in the final minute to help the Bullets pull away and wrapped up the tournament with 33 points.
Junior forward
Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, and five assists as the Bullets (2-1) claimed their 12th Gettysburg Tip-Off title but their first since 2008.
Gettysburg also wiped out a 10-point deficit in its victory over Pitt-Bradford Friday night.
Rutgers Newark (2-1) was paced by John Snow, who scored 18 points. David Azzaro contributed 15 points for the Scarlet Raiders.
Snow and Jordan McDaniel (11 points, nine rebounds) were named to the All-Tournament team for Rutgers-Newark along with Evan Greening of Pitt-Bradford and Andy Kleinlein of Washington and Lee.
In the consolation game, W&L defeated Bradford 77-75 behind 23 points and 14 rebounds from Clayton Murtha. Greening led the Panthers with 22 points and 12 boards.
The Bullets trailed 50-39 with 12:36 remaining after a dunk for McDaniel. However, the Orange and Blue climbed back into it with an 8-2 run, including five points from Kiefer.
The Scarlet Raiders went back in front by seven but the Bullets refused to go away. England capped a 6-0 spurt with a pair of free throws that made it 60-59 2:52 left.
Junior guard
Pete Christ (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley Regional) handed Gettysburg its first lead since the 18:38 Mark of the second half when he buried a 3-pointer on a kick-out from Kiefer with 2:40 3 on the clock.
Rutgers-Newark took back the lead (64-62) on a pair of McDaniel free throws and a lay-up from Snow with 2:25 left, but Stewart answered with his big shot to make it 65-64. Kiefer followed up with a clutch defensive play, drawing a charge to give the Bullets possession with 58 seconds to go. Christ would then find Stewart for a cutting layup to push the lead to 67-64. Gettysburg came up with two more defensive stops while England and Stewart combined to make four shots at the foul line inside the final 10 seconds to ice the victory.
The Scarlet Raiders led by 10 midway through the first half before the Bullets ran off a 7-0 run to pull to within three (15-12) with 8:53 on the clock. Gettysburg cut it to 22-21 with 3:20 to go in the half but were unable to draw any closer as the visitors took a 31-26 lead into the locker room.
The Bullets came back to take the lead (34-33) on a Christ trey early in the second half before Rutgers-Newark gradually pulled away to assume their 11-point advantage.
Gettysburg returns to action on Tuesday, when it hosts Johns Hopkins University in its Centennial Conference opener at 6 p.m.
