Box Score

CARLISLE, Pa. – Gettysburg nearly erased a big second-half deficit, but the rally ran out of time as host Dickinson College held on to hand the Bullets a 47-42 Centennial Conference (CC) loss Wednesday evening at the Kline Center.
 
The Bullets (2-5, 2-2 CC) trailed by as much as 13 with under five minutes left but stormed back to make it a one-possession game when senior center Tanner Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) dropped in a baby-hook with 37 seconds remaining. However, Dickinson held on despite going 2-for-5 at the foul line the rest of the way, as Gettysburg missed its final three field-goal attempts.
 
In a defensive battle, both sides were held to sub-32 percent shooting for the night. The Bullets finished at 29.3 percent from the field while the Red Devils shot 31.5 percent.
 
Gettysburg has now held three of its first four Centennial Conference opponents to under 55 points this season.
 
Perhaps playing in his hometown for the final time, Kirkpatrick posted 14 points and a career-high-tying 13 rebounds for his second career double-double and the first since his freshman season. Senior forward Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) led all scorers with 16 points while junior forward Cameron Stewart (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) added a career-high 10 rebounds for the Bullets.
 
Elijah Wright scored 14 points to lead Dickinson (5-2, 3-1 CC).
 
The Bullets used some stifling defense to stake itself to an early 11-point lead. Gettysburg limited Dickinson to a paltry 15.8 percent shooting (3-for-19) over the opening 10 minutes; in the meantime, Kiefer scored all nine of his first-half points as the Bullets outscored the Red Devils 17-6 to open the game. Sophomore forward Luke Cooper (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) capped the run with a conventional 3-point play with 10:44 on the clock.
 
The Red Devils found their offense midway through the half and used a 12-2 run over a seven-minute stretch to cut the deficit to one (19-18) following a Justin Melton lay-up with 1:08 on the clock. A lay-in from Stewart with 37 ticks showing gave the Orange and Blue a 21-18 halftime advantage.
 
Gettysburg led by as much as six on two occasions early in the second half, the final coming on a Kirkpatrick lay-up with 15:08 remaining. However, that's when the Bullets would hit a cold stretch while Dickinson ran off 16 unanswered points to open up a 40-30 lead with 8:50 left. A bucket from Wright capped a 21-2 Devil run that gave Dickinson its late 13-point advantage at 45-32.
 
The Bullets refused to go quietly, however, and reeled off a 10-0 spurt to draw to within three. Kirkpatrick and Kiefer sparked the rally with driving lay-ups before Kirkpatrick hit a pair of free throws to make it 45-38 with 1:55 to go. Stewart drove the left lane for a bucket with 1:03 left and suddenly the visitors had pulled to within two possessions.
 
After a Gettysburg timeout, the Bullets pressed and forced a backcourt violation, setting up Kirkpatrick's final shot that made it 45-42. Dickinson would miss the front end of a one-and-one with 35 seconds left. However, the Bullets missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer before Moses Romocki made 1-of-2 free throws to set the hosts lead at 46-42 with 20 seconds to go. Gettysburg would again miss from beyond the arc before Jon Stenger went 1-of-2 at the line to set the final score with seven seconds left.
 
The Bullets are now off for 10 days before traveling to Catholic University on Dec. 18 for a non-conference affair at 4 p.m.