Late Run Pushes Gettysburg Past Men's Basketball, 80-65
GETTYSBURG, Pa. - With the game tied 60-60 and just 5:20 to play, homestanding Gettysburg went on a 20-5 run to close out the contest, defeating the Swarthmore College men's basketball team 80-65 on Saturday afternoon in Bream Gym.
Junior Will Gates led the Garnet (1-18, 1-11) with 19 points while sophomore Jay Kober added 14. The Bullets (9-10, 6-6) saw both forward Alex Zurn (21) and center Christian Bors (20) hit the 20-point plateau.
As has been the case in Swarthmore's last four games, the Garnet found itself in position to win late, only to see its opponent surge ahead in the final minutes of play. In this case, Swat rallied all the way back from a 22-point deficit -- knotting up the game at 60 with five minutes to play -- but couldn't quite find the stamina to complete the comeback.
After trailing by 22 late in the first half, Swarthmore trimmed the deficit down to just 12 heading into the lockers (39-27). While it fell behind by 16 in early in the second half, Swarthmore's fortunes quickly changed.
Starting at the 19-minute mark, the Garnet went on a 21-5 run over the next seven minutes of play, making it a whole new ballgame. Gates was the catalyst of the Garnet's big run, scoring 10 of the 21 points with a pair of triples. A pair of free throws at the 11:58 mark by sophomore Jordan Federer capped the run, trimming the Bullets' lead to just 50-48.
At the 7:54 mark, Swarthmore took its first lead of the game since the opening minute on a pair of Gates free throws (56-55). Just over two minutes later, a lay-up from junior Eugene Prymak tied the game 60-60 with 5:20 to play, setting the stage for what appeared to be a dramatic final five minutes.
Over the final five minute of play, however, the Bullets offense came back to life in an emphatic way, scoring 20 points -- 14 over the final 90 seconds -- to deny the Garnet of the much-needed win.
With his 19-point performance, Gates became just the eighth player in program history to reach 1,200 career points (1,204).
The Garnet's shooting was much improved in the second half -- hitting 43 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range -- but went cold down the stretch. The Bullets recorded a team-total 56 percent shooting, proving to be one of the differences in the game.
Senior Michael Giannangeli finished with nine points. Gates pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while sophomore Jordan Cheney finished with three assists.
The Garnet held the Bullets to 0-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, but were destroyed in the paint, where Gettysburg finished with a 46-22 scoring advantage.
The Garnet will look to rebound from the loss at Muhlenberg on Wednesday. Tip is set for 8:00.
