THE FACTS
Gettysburg (13-8, 8-1 CC) 64, Muhlenberg (11-10, 4-5 CC) 56
What: Centennial Conference (CC) men's basketball game
When: Saturday, Feb. 7
Where: Gettysburg, Pa.
THE SKINNY STORY
Gettysburg outscored Muhlenberg 15-8 over the game's final 2:22 to turn a one-point lead into a 64-56 victory and an eighth straight win, becoming the first team to secure a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament.
THE LEADERS
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Aidan Mess (Columbia, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) led the Bullets with his third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. He also had three assists.
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Ray Zamloot (Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) chipped in his third 20-point performance of the year, netting 15 of his 20 points in the decisive second half. He also grabbed seven boards as part of a 36-21 rebounding advantage for the hosts.
FOR THE FOES
• Jack Woodard led the Mules with 20 points and three assists.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Neither team could find its offensive footing in the first half. Trailing 9-5, Jack Woodard hit a turnaround with 13:56 remaining to start a 9-0 stretch over 4 minutes, 30 seconds for the most offensive stretch by either team in the opening stanza. A pair of
Reece Craft (Downingtown, Pa./Devon Prep) layups keyed a 6-0 counter for a 15-14 edge with 7:46 remaining. Muhlenberg went back up four twice en route to a 24-22 halftime edge.
• A Woodard 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half made it a five-point lead and the Mules maintained the advantage until a
Caleb Gillus (Falls Church, Va./Sidwell Friends School [D.C.]) hit a jumper and
Josh Herr (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) knocked down a corner trey for a 33-31 lead with 15:10 remaining. The Bullets opened up a lead as large as 40-35 on a Craft fast-break bucket with 11:23 showing and the lead remained between two and five points until an Arinze Achufusi steal-and-layup made it a 47-46 game with 4:24 to play. An
Aidan Mess putback and another Achufusi driving layup made it 49-48 with 3:47 on the clock. Gillus hit a floater with 2:22 showing and then drove and converted a three-point play to make it a 54-48 lead a minute later. The freshmen then hit both ends of a 1-and-1 to stretch the lead to eight with 50 ticks remaining. Holding a 59-54 lead after two Achufusi free throws, a foul in the back court followed by a pair of technical fouls and another foul with 22.2 seconds left after Gettysburg retained possession stretched the lead to double-digits when the Bullets combined to converted five of the eight free-throw attempts. Nate Hoffman scored on the other end to set the final margin.
THE INSIDE STORY
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Caleb Gillus added 13 points, including going 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg returns to action at Dickinson on Wednesday. Game time is 8 p.m.
