GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Salisbury University men's basketball team handed the eighth-ranked Gettysburg College Bullets their first loss of the campaign, gutting out an 84-78 overtime triumph on the road on Saturday afternoon to earn a fourth consecutive victory.
The Sea Gulls (7-2) split the first five minutes and change with their opposition, playing to an 11-11 tie led by seven points from Jordan Oates. Gettysburg hit a three-pointer to take a 15-13 lead before Kedrick Frink started a seven-point run to put Salisbury ahead, 20-15.
The Bullets (8-1) brought the contest within one in the ensuing minutes, 22-21, but Oates dropped five consecutive points to widen the margin to six with five minutes to go. Gettysburg narrowly outpaced the Sea Gulls in the closing minutes, 11-8, to slice the gap to three at the break, 35-32.
Oates tallied SU's first points of the second half as the foes traded scores through four minutes, 44-43. Daniel Oyediran netted back-to-back finishes including a slam to grow the lead to five, 48-43.
Gettysburg responded with seven straight tallies to take a 50-48 advantage with just over 14 minutes to go, but SU tallied six of the next eight points to retake the lead, 54-52. A quiet four minutes yielded a 4-0 run for the hosts, with all four points coming from the charity stripe, to put the Bullets ahead 56-54 with eight minutes left.
Tyler Ball ignited a Sea Gull rally, scoring five points amidst a 13-5 run to lift the Sea Gulls late, 67-61. A pair of Bullet freebies slowed the run, but Ball dropped in a floater with just over two minutes to play to cushion the lead, 69-63.
The hosts stormed back in the final two minutes, scoring six unanswered points to tie the contest at 69 and force overtime. The Sea Gulls rolled out a 6-0 run to start the added time, highlighted by Oates' fourth three-pointer, to build a 75-69 headstart.
The Bullets rattled off five straight in response, bringing the contest within one at 75-74. Frink converted a critical and-one play, getting to the rack and cashing in at the stripe to lead by four.
Gettysburg answered a two-for-two trip to the line from Brendan Davis with four free throws of their own, 80-78. With just 19 seconds left, Frink delivered the final dagger with a reverse lay-in off the glass before late SU free throws set the 84-78 final score.
GAME NOTES
- Jordan Oates netted his sixth double-double of the season, dropping a team-high 24 points and securing 14 rebounds while posting his sixth game with multiple blocks. Oates also entered the top 10 in program history in three-point field goals made (153) in the win.
- Kedrick Frink tallied a new high as a Sea Gull, dropping 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting while securing four rebounds. Frink has secured double-digit scoring totals in seven of his nine outings this season.
- Tyler Ball provided an essential spark late in the contest, tallying nine points and adding three rebounds across 17 minutes in the triumph.
- Brendan Davis finished with 10 points and distributed a team-high four assists.
- The Sea Gulls shot 50.8 percent (31-of-61) from the floor, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc, and 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the free throw line.
- Salisbury earns its first victory over a top-10 opponent since Dec. 28th, 2019, when the squad defeated No. 6 Marietta at the Great Lakes Invitational during head coach Maurice "Mo" Williams' first season at the program's helm.
Salisbury concludes its three-game road stint on Tuesday, Dec. 10th against the Bryn Athyn College Lions. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. from Bryn Athyn, Pa.