THE FACTS
Bates (5-7) 75, Gettysburg (4-6) 68
What: Non-conference men's basketball game
When: Friday, Dec. 30
Where: Daytona Beach, Fla.
THE SKINNY STORY
Bates built a second-half lead as large as 16 before Gettysburg scored 12 straight in a two-minute stretch, closing to within three with a minute to play but the Bobcats did just enough to escape with a 75-68 win.
THE LEADERS
•
Ryan McKeon (Landenberg, Pa./Sanford [Del.]) led the Bullets with 16 points and four blocked shots.
•
Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) added 14 points and four assists.
•
Jordan Stafford (Galloway, N.J./Saint Joseph Hammonton) chipped in 13 points.
•
Akim Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Notre Dame Fairfield [Conn.]) contributed a season-best 12 points.
FOR THE FOES
• Trace Gotham led the Bobcats with 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting.
• Stephon Baxter added 17 points , five rebounds and five assists.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• In a back-and-forth first half, Bates scored the final eight points of the first half to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room. Gettysburg scored the first three points of the game before three Elliott Cravitz 3-pointers keyed an 11-4 answer from the Bobcats to take an 11-7 lead with 13:05 showing. After
Carl Schaller and Jahmir Primer traded jumpers, buckets from four different Bullets turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead with 9:34 on the clock. Five straight points from Stephon Baxter gave Bates an 18-17 edge 44 seconds later. Four points from
Jordan Stafford and a Schaller free throw gave Gettysburg a 25-22 advantage with 5:06 to play. After five straight from the Bobcats,
Ryan McKeon tied the game with 3:17 to remaining.
• A Trace Gotham layup pushed the lead to double digits in the first 30 seconds of the second half. The lead swelled to as large as 11 before a pair of
Nate Williams (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney) helped Gettysburg put together an 8-1 stretch in just over two minutes to close to within 48-44 with 12:58 to play. Six points from Baxter, however, was part of a 5-minute, 5-second stretch in which the Bobcats outscored Gettysburg 16-4 to open up a 64-48 lead with 7:34 remaining. Trailing 71-56,
Elijah Williams (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) it a layup with 3:06 to play, igniting a 12-0 run over the next 1:59. An
Akim Joseph steal-and-layup capped the run and drew the Bullets to within 71-68 with 67 seconds remaining. Devin Harris was able to slam home a feed just before the shot clock expired to push the lead back to five and the Bates defense held Gettysburg off the board in the final minute. Two Baxter free throws with 12 ticks remaining set the final margin.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Ten of
Ryan McKeon's 16 points came in the second half while eight of
Akim Joseph's 12 came after the break.
•
Elijah Williams led the Bullets on the glass with nine rebounds but Bates finished with a 34-26 rebounding edge.
• The game featured a mentor vs. mentee matchup. Gettysburg head coach
B.J. Dunne faced off against his former college head coach for the first time. Dunne is a 2010 graduate of Bates.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at home against Haverford on Wednesday. Game time is 8 p.m.
