THE FACTS
Gettysburg (21-7) 84, Chatham (23-5) 68
What: NCAA Div. III men's basketball tournament first round
When: Friday, Mar. 7
Where: Middletown, Conn.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg used a 26-6 run in the first half to break the game wide open and defeat Chatham 84-68 in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Div. III men's basketball championship tournament held at Wesleyan.
THE LEADERS
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Jordan Stafford (Galloway, N.J./St. Joseph Hammonton) led the Bullets with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
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Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) added 18 points, six boards and five helpers.
FOR THE FOES
• Diaun Pinkett led the Cougars with 21 points, five rebounds and six steals.
• Lovenson Xavier added 20 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Gettysburg scored the first five points of the game and held a 7-6 edge at the first media timeout nearly five minutes into the game. An
Akim Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Notre Dame Fairfield [Conn.]) fast-break layup with 14:51 on the clock made it 9-6 and started the game-changing run over the next nearly eight minutes.
Nate Williams (Morganville, N.J./St. John Vianney) canned three of his four triples over a 2-minute, 7-second span that opened up a 24-8 lead. The lead swelled as large as 33-12 on a
Carl Schaller pull-up jumper with 6:58 to play. Chatham countered with the next 11 points to trim the margin to 33-23 with 3:50 to play before a Schaller trey on the final possession of the first half made it a 38-25 game at the break.
• Buckets from three different players extended the back to 20 in the first 1:12 of the second half. The lead remained between 16 and 21 points until a
Lorenzo Carrara (Norwood, Mass./Xaverian Brothers) putback made it 62-39 with 12:20 remaining. The Cougars got back to within 13 at 67-54 on two Blaine Gartley free throws with 6:29 showing. The Bullets, however, responded with 11 of the next 15 points to extend the lead back to 20 with 3:12 to play.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg is making its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2009 and won its first-round game for the first time since making a second-weekend run in 2008.
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Nate Williams finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
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Lorenzo Carrara added 10 points.
• The Bullets finished with a 42-30 advantage on the glass and shot 51.6 percent for the game.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg takes on host and third-ranked Wesleyan in the second round on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m.
