THE FACTS
Gettysburg (8-6, 5-2 CC) 67, Franklin & Marshall (8-6, 3-4 CC) 55
What: Centennial Conference (CC)men's basketball game
When: Thursday, Jan. 12
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg closed the game on a 16-4 run to pull away from Franklin & Marshall and notch a key 67-55 home win.
THE LEADERS
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Elijah Williams (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) led the Bullets with a career-best 23 points to go with a career-high-tying 14 rebounds, posting his second double-double of the year.
•
Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) added 20 points of his own.
FOR THE FOES
• Omar Nichols paced the Diplomats with 17 points.
• John Seidman added 14 points.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Neither team could create separation over the first seven minutes of the game. Franklin & Marshall held the largest advantage of the opening stretch at 7-4 before an Omar Nichols triple gave the visitors a 13-9 edge with 12:41 to play. Trailing 14-11 on a John Seidman free throw with 11:03 to play,
Elijah Williams put down back-to-back dunks to give Gettysburg a one-point lead. Another Williams driving layup pushed the lead to 17-14 with 8:52 on the clock. The Bullets lead remained between one and four points until a Vakaris Grauslys layup and Mark Suchy layup off a turnover gave the Diplomats a 27-24 lead.
Carl Schaller drew the hosts within one with 67 ticks left in the half.
• The teams traded points to open the second stanza with neither team leading by more than a possession until
Nate Williams (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney) knocked down a triple from the wing for a 40-36 lead with 12:45 showing. A Nichols trey ultimately drew Franklin & Marshall even once again at 43-all two minutes later before Schaller responded with a 3-pointer of his own. The game was also tied at 47-all and 51-all. With 5:45 to play, Schaller drove and hit a layup and drew the foul to give Gettysburg the lead for good and spark the game-clinching run. Another
Elijah Williams dunk pushed the lead to five before the Diplomats answered at the other end. Williams then added a three-point play of his own and Schaller connected on yet another driving layup for a 61-53 advantage with 2:21 remaining. Williams laid one in and Schaller hit two free throws for the first double-digit lead of the game with 37 ticks remaining.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg is 4-0 to start 2023 and currently sit in a tie for second place in the conference standings.
•
Elijah Williams was the second Bullet this season to post a 20-point, 10-rebound game. Williams and
Carl Schaller each scored 20 or more points in the same game for the second time this season. The duo also both had 20 at Stevenson on Nov. 16.
• The game featured eight ties and nine lead changes over the game's first 34 minutes.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at No. 12 Swarthmore on Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m.
