Gettysburg men’s basketball wins CC opener
Kevin Gladstone scored nine of his 13 points inside the final 4:35.
(Photo courtesy of David Sinclair, GG&M.)
By Alyssa Anderson, Contributing Writer
The Gettysburg men’s basketball team beat Swarthmore College, 53-48, in its Centennial Conference opener.
The Bullets came into the game with a record of 2-1, while Swarthmore had yet to win a game, with a record of 0-2.
Swarthmore had the leading score in the first half of the game on November 22. The Gettysburg Bullets trailed by nine points at halftime but were able to recover the lead with a strong defense performance towards the end of the game.
A free throw by Gettysburg sophomore Tanner Kirkpatrick tied up the game in the second half and allowed the Bullets to secure their first lead of the game with just four minutes left. Gettysburg kept this lead for the remainder of the game.
Junior forward Kevin Gladstone scored nine of the Bullets’ even points during an essential run late in the game. These points allowed Gettysburg to overcome an eleven point second-half deficit to clutch the win and continue their positive momentum this season.
This win marked the 350th victory for Gettysburg head basketball coach, George Petrie, who has won more games than any other coach in the men’s basketball program’s history.
The Gettysburg basketball team currently has a winning record of 4-1 this season, with their most recent victory against Dickinson. The only loss of the season so far was in overtime against Washington and Lee, with a final score of 74-76.
The team manager, junior Timothy Meads, has high hopes for this season with the influx of new talent.
Meads stated, “The team, while it’s younger, is a lot more consistent this year. I think we have a much better understanding of the offense and more guys who just work harder on defense and who really seem like they want to win.”
The team has showed significant improvement since last season and continues to show progress in both practice and games.
Meads commented on a strong point of the Gettysburg Bullets that he has consistently noticed this season. “Our ability to capitalize on other teams’ mistakes and gain momentum, like having a fast break and making the jump shot, is a major strength.”
When asked what areas the team could work on, Meads discussed the players’ tendency to dwell on mistakes and lose focus at certain points in the game.
“I think we could be more mentally tough when we mess up,” said Meads.
Despite this weakness, Meads believes that the team has the capacity to improve and maintain a winning record. He emphasized, “We have a lot of potential this season.”
The next game for the Gettysburg Bullets is at home at 6pm, December 2 against Johns Hopkins.
