THE FACTS
Gettysburg (7-3) 56, No. 16 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (8-2), 38
What: Non-conference men's basketball game
When: Friday, December 29
Where: Hoboken, N.J.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg strode away with a 10-0 lead over nationally ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the game's opening minutes and never trailed throughout, notching a seven-point margin at half and finishing with the 56-38 advantage in their first game of the Stevens Holiday Tournament.
THE LEADERS
•
Jordan Stafford (Galloway, N.J./Saint Joseph Hammonton) was the only Bullet in double digits with 20 points, shooting an impressive 6-7 from inside, 4-4 outside, and 4-7 from the charity stripe. He also grabbed three rebounds and handed out four helpers.
•
Akim Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Notre Dame Fairfield [Conn.]) put up nine points and six rebounds.
•
Aidan Mess (Brookeville, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) tallied eight points and eight rebounds.
FOR THE FOES
• Brett Marelli led the Engineers with 10 points.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Gettysburg led the way in the first five minutes of play as four different shooters got the Bullets out to a 13-4 lead. Back-to-back baskets by
Ryan McKeon (Landenberg, Pa./Sanford [Del.]) and
Rassoul Abakar (Cameroon/Notre Dame Fairfield [Conn.]) stretched the lead to 13 with under ten to play in the first half. Brett Marelli sunk a layup to help WPI trim the deficit to single digits before Stafford sunk two at the line to make it an 11-point game. The Gettysburg lead stayed between nine and seven points the rest of the half, with both teams relying almost entirely on free throw shooting to yield a Bullets 27-20 lead going into the break.
• WPI's John Newman got on the board first in the second quarter, and he and John Adams combined for another basket each to trim the deficit to just one point. Just over three minutes into the second half, McKeon split a pair at the line to give Gettysburg their first point of the stanza. A 3-pointer by Stafford made it a 31-26 game before WPI hit three free throws and a layup to tie the game for the first time, with 14:10 showing.
Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) and Brett Marelli traded baskets, Schaller's a triple, for a narrow Gettysburg lead, and Schaller converted a 3-point play just 30 seconds after. Stafford followed with a 3-pointer of his own to reestablish a seven-point lead for the Bullets.
Another Stafford triple kicked off a 6 minute, 19 second 9-0 Gettysburg run to yield a 16-point lead, the largest of the game. Jack Bieler finally ended the scoring drought for WPI, but the Engineers were unable to mount a comeback at the Bullets finished with a 56-38 advantage.
THE INSIDE STORY
• The victory marked the second time this season that the Bullets have held an opponent to under 40 points.
• WPI is the second ranked opponent that Gettysburg has dispatched this season. The last time the Bullets beat two ranked opponents in one season was during the 2008-09 season.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg will return to action tomorrow against Stevens in the tournament championship game. Game time is 5 p.m.
