Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall College erased a 15-point second half deficit and the Diplomats rallied for a 62-58 victory over Gettysburg in Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball action Thursday evening in Bream Gym.
 
The two sides finish the season with a series split; the Bullets (5-13, 4-7 CC) defeated Franklin & Marshall 57-54 in Lancaster back on Nov. 22.
 
Senior center Mlynue Reeves (Washington, D.C./Church Farm School [Pa.]) posted his second double-double of the season to lead the Bullets, scoring a career-high 21 point and grabbing 10 rebounds. Freshman guard Danny Duffey (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) tied a season-high with 11 points and dished out a season-best eight assists while senior forward Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) contributed 11 rebounds, the third of which gave him 500 for his career.
 
Gettysburg out-rebounded the Diplomats 42-26 and outscored F&M 36-20 in the paint. However, the Bullets were unable to overcome 21 turnovers and 11-of-20 foul shooting.
 
Four players scored in double figures for Franklin & Marshall (13-5, 7-4 CC), led by Jared Wright with 12.
 
Brandon Federici, the leading scorer in the Centennial Conference who was averaging over 20 points per game heading into the contest, was limited to 11 points, seven of which came at the foul line. However, he made a key jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute to help the Diplomats pull away.
 
It was the second-straight game that the Diplomats came back from a large deficit; they also rallied from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat Haverford College this past Saturday.
 
Gettysburg led 32-19 at halftime and saw its lead balloon to 36-21 with 15:58 left following a lay-up from Reeves. But that's when the Diplomats embarked on a 16-0 run over the next 4:34 to take their first lead of the night on a Matthew Tate 3-pointer with 11:24 left. However, the Bullets reclaimed control of the game a 6-2 spurt and a fastbreak jumper from Duffey put the Bullets up 42-39 with 9:22 remaining.
 
The hosts nudged their lead back to six on another lay-up from Reeves, giving his team a 49-43 advantage with 4:50 to go. However, that's when F&M went on another lengthy run, outscoring the Bullets 16-4 over the next 4:19. Lior Levy hit a pair of 3-pointers during the stretch, the second of which tied the game at 53-all with 2:42 remaining.
 
A jumper from Hunter Eggers gave the Diplomats the lead (55-53) for good with 2:09 left, and after a Gettysburg turnover, Federici hit a fadeaway jumper in the paint late in the shot clot to put F&M up 57-54 with 48 seconds to go.
 
The Bullets would miss a shot before Wright hit a pair of big free thows with 31 seconds left to make it a six-point game at 59-53. Reeves would hit a pair of foul shots with 17 ticks showing, but Federici connected on two foul shots of his own one second later to seal the win.
 
Gettysburg never trailed in the first half after opening the game on a 7-2 surge. A lay-up from senior center Tanner Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa./Cumberland Valley) made it 11-6 with 14:41 left in the opening half, and he dropped in another bucket to make it 13-9 with 10:55 showing. But that's when the two sides fell into a cold spell, with neither team scoring for over a three-minute stretch.
 
Eggers broke the drought with a trey at the 7:35 mark, and Wright made 1-of-2 free throws to pull the Dips even at 13-13. But Gettysburg responded with a 13-2 run, sparked by a 3-pointer from senior guard Pete Christ (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley Regional) and fueled by six points from Reeves. A lay-up from Duffey made it 26-15 with 4:15 left.
 
The Diplomats scored the next four points, but the Bullets closed the period on a 6-0 run, getting consecutive baskets from Kiefer and a lay-in from Kirkpatrick to hand the Bullets their 32-19 advantage at the break.
 
Reeves scored a game-high 10 points in the first half, when the Bullets shot 51.9 percent from the field.
 
Gettysburg returns to action on Saturday, when it travels to conference-leading Swarthmore College at 3 p.m.