Box Score GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Junior forward
Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) erupted for a career-high 34 points and the Gettysburg College men's basketball team held off a second-half rally en route to a 83-70 victory over Johns Hopkins University in the Centennial Conference (CC) opener for both teams Tuesday evening in Bream Gym.
The Bullets (3-1, 1-0 CC) never trailed after opening the game on a 16-6 run and posted their third-straight victory.
Kiefer shot a red-hot 11-for-15, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range, while posting the highest scoring output by a Bullet since Curtis McNeil '02 scored 35 points in a 79-69 win over Franklin & Marshall College on Jan. 12, 2002. Kiefer also shot 7-for-8 at the foul line and grabbed 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double.
Senior center
Kevin Gladstone (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) added 18 points and a career-best 13 rebounds for his first career double-double. Sophomore guard
Matt England (Warrington, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) tied his career-best with 18 points.
Johns Hopkins (1-3, 0-1 CC), which finished in first place in the Centennial Conference standings last season, was paced by Kyle Doran, who scored 20 points. Austin Vasiliadis added 15 points and six assists.
Kiefer was hot right from the start, scoring 16 points in the opening 12:18. He 4-for-4 from beyond the arc during the stretch, and his triple with 7:42 on the clock made it 30-13 in favor of the Bullets.
Gettysburg continued to pull away over the remainder of the half, and a jumper from sophomore forward
Rahmi Halaby (Media, Pa./Penncrest) with 4:01 showing gave the Bullets their biggest lead of the night at 38-16. The Orange and Blue saw their advantage reach 22 again after a pair of free throws from sophomore forward
Cam Stewart (Sydney, Australia/Newington School) with 2:21 left before Hopkins closed the half on 6-0 run to make it a 40-24 game at the break.
The Blue Jays climbed back into it with a defensive stand midway through the second half, holding the Bullets to four points over a seven-and-a-half minute stretch. A 19-4 run, which included 14 points and four 3-pointers from Duran, pulled the visitors to within three (51-48) with 11:45 remaining.
Hopkins trimmed the deficit to three on two more occasions, the last coming on a Sam Gordon lay-up that made it 55-52 with 8:44 left. However, that's when the Bullets used a 9-2 run to open up a 10-point advantage (64-54) with 6:43 to go, and the Blue Jays were unable to get closer than six the rest of the way. Gettysburg went 5-for-6 at the foul line during the spurt, then cemented its victory by making all nine of its free-throw attempts inside the final 4:50.
The Bullets enjoyed a season-best shooting performance from the field (52.9%) and at the foul line (85.2%, 23-for-27).
Gettysburg takes a week off from competition before visiting 21st-ranked Dickinson College in a Centennial Conference match-up next Tuesday at 8 p.m.
