Men’s Basketball Topples Haverford
Sophomore Nick Antolini led the Bullets in points and field goals Saturday (Photo David Sinclair / Gettysburg College Athletics)
By Candace Means, Contributing Writer
The Gettysburg College men’s basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 77-67 victory against Haverford College Saturday.
This victory was the second time Gettysburg faced Haverford this season and the second victory as well. On January 9 the Bullets defeated the Fords 89-73.
The first half of the game had the Bullets red hot. At only 2:30 seconds into the game, they hit the first five field goals. By the end of the first half, the Bullets held a 16-point lead against the Fords with a 44% shooting.
The game was not simple on either side of the court.
While maintaining a double digit lead during the majority of the second half, the Bullets experienced a 17-5 run by the Fords during the final six minutes of the second half.
The Bullets reigned victorious to complete the season sweep between the two teams. The win improved the team’s record to 6-15.
Sophomore Nick Antolini and senior captain Cameron Stewart shared the leaderboard by each tallying 16 points for the Bullets. It was a special game for Antolini, as he not only grabbed a high score of 10 rebounds, but these stats led the sophomore to capture his first double-double of his career.
Senior forward Matt England also lit up the scoreboard with 14 points. England just missed a double-double with nine rebounds total.
The Bullets’ three-point shooting was also a major component to their win, as, despite a 51-42 disadvantage on the boards, they were able to shoot 53% from behind the arc compared to Haverford’s 21%.
With a large component of the team having graduated in the spring, the Bullets have had to make a lot of adjustments regarding player positions this season.
Gettysburg is considered a fairly young team with 13 out of the 18 players being sophomores or first years.
In a preseason video with the director of athletic communications Braden Snyder, Stewart, along with his co-captain, junior Matt Palacio discussed the young players on the team.
“I feel like the young freshmen coming into the squad have a lot to learn as any freshmen do when they come into a new basketball program, especially this one, and with that comes a lot of responsibility and a lot of learning,” said Stewart. “But some of these guys have shown good athletic ability and good basketball knowledge.”
The Bullets look to continue to develop these young players in the last few games of the season, as they aim to move up in the Centennial Conference rankings with the hopes of earning a playoff position.
Stewart and England are the lone seniors on the team, and as they prepare to leave Gettysburg, they are confident the young players will be able to hold their own next year along with the upperclassmen leaders they leave behind.
“We have had a young team, pretty similar to last year, which is a good thing in my opinion because last year it gave the now sophomores good experience and good playing to sort of develop their game and grow as basketball players for Gettysburg.”
Sophomores Nick Lord and Joey Carroll both proved crucial to the second half of Saturday’s game while first-year Avery Close contributed some of the final points for the Bullets on the day.
The Bullets next face the Muhlenberg College Mules at home in Bream Gym Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Mules rank just one position above the Bullets in the Conference with a record of 9-12. Saturday’s game will be the second meeting of the two teams this semester. Gettysburg last lost to Muhlenberg 67-74 on January 11.
