Ursinus Holds Off Gettysburg

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GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Ursinus College canned 18 free throws in the second half, including eight in the final 1:04 to hold off Gettysburg College 72-65 in a Centennial Conference men's basketball match up inside Bream Gym Saturday afternoon. 

Four players reached double-figures for Gettysburg (11-8, 7-5 CC) with sophomore Cody Kiefer (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg) finishing with 13 points and six rebounds. Senior Sean Gordon (Broomall, Pa./Malvern Prep) posted 12 points, eight rebounds, and four assists, while sophomores Tanner Kirkpatrick (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle) and Pete Christ (Pittstown, N.J./Delaware Valley Regional) each contributed 11 points. 

Malik Draper was busy at the charity stripe for Ursinus (7-12, 4-8 CC), hitting 12-of-14 free throws to finish with a game-high 17 points. He also snagged eight rebounds and blocked three shots. Joseph LoStracco added 15 points and nine rebounds. 

Ursinus led most of the way, but the lead hit double-figures only once late in the contest. The Bears led by nine (18-9) following a three-pointer by Steve Leonard with 13:27 left in the opening half. 

Gettysburg wiped away a 22-14 deficit with an 11-0 run beginning with a three-pointer by Christ at 9:09. Back-to-back buckets by senior Joe Emerusabe (Derwood, Md./Magruder) gave the hosts the lead and a lay-up by junior Kevin Gladstone (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) made it 25-22 with 5:49 before the break. 

The Bears recovered quickly with the next eight points and headed into the locker room with a 36-32 advantage following a putback by LoStracco. 

The lead changed hands eight times in the final stanza with Emerusabe putting his team in front 50-49 with an old-fashioned three-point play at 9:03. Four free throws by Draper and a conventional three-point play by Remi Janicot put Ursinus back in front for good at 56-50 with 7:01 left. 

LoStracco converted a three-point play with 1:04 remaining to push the lead to 10 (65-55). Usrinus maintained the advantage with seven converted three throws inside the final minute of play.

Gettysburg put up a season-high 63 shot attempts in the loss, but only converted 21 of those attempts (33.3 percent). Ursinus finished 23-of-30 from the foul line in the game and held a 45-33 advantage on the glass. 

Gettysburg hosts No. 7 Dickinson College (17-2, 10-2 CC) on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. The Bullets defeated the Red Devils 67-61 on Nov. 25.