GETTYSBURG, PA – The Gettysburg College Bullets men's basketball squad used a 10-0 second half run to pull away from the York College Spartans as Gettysburg earned a 69-55 non-conference win in Gettysburg on Wednesday night.
The Bullets improve to 2-1 overall while the Spartans fall to 0-3 with the setback.
The first half was tightly played and back and forth as the lead changed ten times during the opening 20 minutes of play. Spartan freshman Mike Duffy (Hanover, Pa./South Western) got off to a hot start as he poured in 12 points in the opening 12 minutes of the game. Duffy picked up his second foul and came out the game with the Spartans trailing 18-17.
York would eventually take a 22-20 lead on a Matt Scamuffo (Chalfont, Pa./Central Bucks South) triple with 5:44 left in the half. The Bullets went on a 10-2 run to push out to a six-point advantage with 1:12 left. Scamuffo gave the Green and White a boost going into the half as he drained a triple from the left baseline, trimming York's deficit to 30-27 heading to the break.
Gettysburg came out of the break and slowly extended their halftime advantage. The Bullets' lead grew to seven on a pair of Joe Emerusabe fee throws with 13:39 left in the game. The Spartans went on a quick run as they trimmed their deficit to 47-45 on a pair of Scamuffo free throws. The Bullet lead bounced between two and six points over the next four minutes.
York cut the Gettysburg lead to three at 51-48 on a Joey Feinberg (New City, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) three point play with 6:47. That's when the Bullets put together the game-changing 10-0 run that covered just under two minutes of play. Emerusabe hit a pair of huge three pointers to turn the tide in favor of the blue and orange as the Gettysburg lead grew to 61-48.
York cut it to ten twice but that is as close as they would get the rest of the way.
The Spartans suffered from a tough shooting night as they missed a number of great looks in the paint. That inabilty to finish cost them a chance to shoot down the Bullets.
Pete Christ led the Bullets with 14 points as Gettysburg placed four players in double figures. Emerusabe was fantastic for Gettysburg as he drained 12 points including 10 points in the second half. He also had seven rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals in 35 minutes. Kevin Gladstone added 12 points while Cameron Stewart chipped in with 10 points, three rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal.
The Bullets shot 49% from the floor while they drained 7-of-19 (36.8%) from three. Gettysburg sank 14-of-18 (77.8%) from the free throw line.
The Spartans had four players reach double figures led by Duffy and Brad Wesner (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) as they each had 12 points. Duffy was 4-for-6 from the floor including 3-for-4 from distance and 1-for-1 from the line. Wesner drilled three triples while he also went 3-for-4 from the stripe. Scamuffo recorded a career-high 11 points while he also pulled in three rebounds. Dalton Myers (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) added 10 points and four rebounds for YCP.
The Spartans shot 38% (19-for-50) from the field including just 33% (9-for-27) in the second half. York was very efficient from three as they made nine of their 16 attempts (56.3%). The Spartans shot 61.5% (8-for-13) from the free throw line.
The Bullets held a 37-24 margin on the glass while they also outscored York 28-18 in points in the paint.
The Spartans are now off until Tuesday night when they host Messiah in a non-conference contest. Tip time at Charles Wolf Gymnasium is set for 7:00 pm.