GETTYSBURG, Pa. - Sophomore guard Sango Amolo scored a career-high 28 points and the Gettysburg College men's basketball team posted its highest scoring output in nearly four years, downing Ursinus College 90-76 in a Centennial Conference match-up Wednesday evening in Bream Gymnasium.
The Bullets (5-7, 3-2 CC) led just 41-40 at halftime before outscoring the Bears 49-36 in the second stanza en route to their top-scoring game since their 91-78 victory over Washington College in the semifinals of the 2010 Centennial Conference tournament.
Senior center Connor Poston added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and he scored eight straight points during a decisive Gettysburg run early in the second half. Poston also grabbed six rebounds for the Bullets, who shot a season-high 58.2% from the field and dished out a season-best 19 assists.
Freshman forward Tanner Kirkpatrick contributed 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists for Gettysburg while junior guard Sean Gordon registered 13 points, a career-high-tying eight assists, and six rebounds. Sophomore forward Kevin Gladstone (Haverford, Pa./Havertown) tied a career-high with eight points off the bench.
Freshman forward Cody Kiefer grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, and he also missed his first foul shot of the night after making his previous 25, spanning the team's last seven games. Kiefer, who entered the night leading Division III in free-throw percentage (96.6%, 28-29), made only one trip to the line, going 1-for-2 with 54 seconds left. His 25 straight foul shots ties what is believed to be the school record, set by Ron Warner '62 in 1962.
Ryan Adams scored 21 points to lead Ursinus (2-10, 0-5 CC) while Pat Vasturia scored 15 points.
Amolo's 28 points were the most by a Bullet since Alex Zurn '13 scored 29 in an 84-78 overtime victory over Muhlenberg College on Jan. 12 of last season. Amolo shot 10-for-18 from the floor, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
It was a game of runs in the opening half, when the Bears used a 13-0 outburst midway through the period to take their largest lead of the night at 25-15. But the Bullets answered with a 10-0 run to pull even with 7:12 left, as four different players scored during the spurt.
Ursinus went up 33-27 after an 8-2 surge, but that's when Gettysburg came back with a 14-2 run in which five Bullets scored, making it 41-35 with 2:14 on the clock. But the Bears trimmed the deficit to one after scoring the last five points of the half.
Adams tied it by splitting a pair of free throws 20 seconds into the second half, but Gettysburg went ahead to stay with a 10-2 run – with Poston scoring the last eight points – to open up a 52-43 advantage with 15:58 showing.
The Bears pulled to within six just over two minutes later, but that's as close as they would get. The Orange and Blue broke it open with a 12-4 run later in the half to assume a 16-point lead with 6:51 remaining, and Ursinus trailed by at least 10 the rest of the way.