GETTYSBURG, Pa. The wait is finally over for the Gettysburg College men’s basketball team as the Bullets make their return to the postseason for the first time in six years and will face No. 18 Swarthmore College in the semifinals of the Centennial Conference Championship this Friday at 6 p.m.
2022 CC Men’s Basketball Championship
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Schedule
- First Round: Feb. 22, 6 p.m. Ursinus 73, Dickinson 67
- Semifinal: Feb. 25, 6 p.m. No. 18 Swarthmore vs. Gettysburg (at Johns Hopkins)
- Semifinal: Feb. 25, 8 p.m. No. 13 Johns Hopkins vs. Ursinus
- Championship: Feb. 26, 7:30 p.m. Semifinal Winners (at Johns Hopkins)
- Location: Goldfarb Gymnasium | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, Md.
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Tickets:
- $5 for adults
- $3 youth (13-18)
- No charge for children 12 and under
- FREE students from participating schools with ID
- Live Video: Centennial Conference Digital Network
- Live Stats
- Indoor Spectator Masking Policy
Back to the Postseason
Gettysburg is making its first postseason appearance since 2016 when it beat McDaniel in the first round before losing to eventual champion Franklin & Marshall in the semifinals. Picked to finish seventh in the preseason coaches’ poll, the Bullets developed and progressed throughout the season with a roster devoid of much experience. Only four players returned that played major minutes in prior seasons. This weekend’s playoff run will also be the first postseason trip for fourth-year Head Coach B.J. Dunne and his coaching staff.
“There was incredible buy-in from our returning group and our newcomers and that was immediately on display this fall in the weight room, conditioning and open gyms,” said Dunne, who has improved the team’s win total in each of his three competitive seasons. “The vision for our program was to position Gettysburg men’s basketball back in the conversation of strong teams in the Centennial Conference. This group has done that and knows the job is not finished.”
How We Got Here
Gettysburg secured the No. 3 seed after posting a 15-9 overall record and 11-7 mark in conference play this season. The 15 wins are the most since 2015-16. Five of Gettysburg’s losses have come against nationally-ranked programs, including current No. 1 Randolph-Macon. The Bullets had won five of their previous six contests before falling in the season finale to Swarthmore.
Johns Hopkins secured the top seed and hosting rights after finishing out the regular season 16-2 in conference play and 20-3 overall. The Blue Jays have not lost to an opponent other than Swarthmore since a 64-62 setback to current No. 4 Christopher Newport in their season opener. Johns Hopkins has won its last six games by an average of 26.2 points per game. The Blue Jays are the defending conference champs.
Swarthmore heads into the weekend as the second seed with a record of 21-4 overall and 15-3 in conference play. The Garnet dropped games to Dickinson, Muhlenberg, and Ursinus in a 17-day span, but swept the season series from Johns Hopkins and ended the year with three convincing wins. Swarthmore, which won the conference title in 2019, has played Johns Hopkins in the finals in each of the last three championship events. The Garnet are also just three years removed from a run to the national title game in 2019.
Ursinus owned the tiebreaker over Haverford for the fifth seed and took down Dickinson 73-67 in Tuesday’s first-round game. The Bears lost six of eight games in February, including each of their final three contests. However, one of those victories was a 95-86 win at Swarthmore on Feb. 8. Ursinus is 1-5 against the remaining conference playoff participants.
Championship History
Johns Hopkins enters the weekend as the defending champion and has won five titles overall. Ursinus has claimed four championships with the last coming in 2008. Gettysburg’s final of three conference titles came the following year in 2009. Swarthmore has claimed both of its titles in the past five seasons.
Johns Hopkins is making its 20th appearance in the event and has advanced to the title game 12 times, including each of the previous three seasons. Swarthmore has reached the finals every year since 2016 and is making its eighth appearance overall. Gettysburg is in the event for the 16th time and has made six trips to the finals. Finally, Ursinus has made the CC playoffs 15 times and is a perfect 4-0 in the championship game.
Bullets Breakdown
Gettysburg has scraped and clawed its way to the top tier of the conference through injuries, illness, and inexperience this season. The team has matured on a daily basis and hits the postseason confident and prepared for a run at the program’s first title in 13 years. A handful of early season setbacks could have derailed the up-and-coming Bullets, but the coaching staff and student-athletes kept pushing forward and find themselves on the precipice of a championship.
“Our culture is built on pounding the rock,” said Dunne. “Our only goal is to beat yesterday and to keep improving and that is what ‘Team 121’ did all season. We felt like as a group if we were able to put the team first, beat yesterday, bring the juice, compete, make every play count and appreciate the journey that we would have an opportunity to make the Centennial Conference Tournament.”
Gettysburg has not lost back-to-back games since the start of the calendar year and the Bullets won five of six games before a loss to Swarthmore last Saturday. The roster is completely devoid of postseason experience and more than half of the players are listed as freshmen.
“We have a special group,” Dunne stated. “There is a lot of love in our locker room. Our players are totally committed to each other and the scoreboard reflected that love 15 times this season. Talent matters, but culture wins and we believe our culture can beat anyone’s culture.”
Gettysburg ranks in the middle of the conference in most offensive categories, including points per game (5th, 67.6) and field-goal percentage (5th, 44.3%). The team also gets to the line often and has averaged a conference-best 22.1 free throw attempts over 18 league outings. The squad has shined on the defensive end of the floor, using its length and athleticism to lead the conference in blocked shots per game (5.7) and rank third in opponents’ field-goal percentage (40.7%). Gettysburg has also set a new program standard with 23 dunks this winter.
Point production has been spread across the team with seven players averaging more than five points per game. Leading the list is senior Avery Close (Phoenixville, Pa./Phoenixville), who opted to take a gap year in 2020-21 to return for his final campaign. Close is the team leader with 12.5 points per game and is shooting 47.5 percent from the floor. The senior forward enters the postseason needing just 36 points to hit 1,000 for his career.
Junior Elijah Williams (Washington, D.C./Sidwell Friends) and sophomore Ryan McKeon (Landenburg, Pa./Sanford) have helped Close and senior Jack Rooney (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) give the team a strong foundation of experience. Williams has averaged 7.3 points and a team-best 6.2 rebounds per game, while McKeon has arguably turned in the best defensive performance in the conference this winter. The 6-7 forward leads the CC in blocked shots per game at 2.2 to go with 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. The sharp-shooting Rooney has knocked down 18 three-pointers off the bench this season.
While the core of the team is built around a small group of upperclassmen, newcomers have seized leading roles within the game plan. Behind Close, each of Gettysburg’s next two leading scorers are freshmen in Carl Schaller (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) and Colin Farrell (Matawan, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy). Schaller has put up 12.2 points per game to go with 2.6 assists per game, while Farrell has averaged just under 10 points per game. Additionally, Rassoul Abakar (Cameroon/Notre Dame Fairfield (Conn.)), Jordan Stafford (Galloway, N.J./Saint Joseph Hammonton), and Akim Joseph (Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Notre Dame Fairfield (Conn.)) have all put up big games off the bench this season.
When Gettysburg won the CC title for the last time in 2009, they did it at Franklin & Marshall College with a lineup laden with experience. This time around, the Bullets have worked on team culture through adversity and unprecedented times, often learning important lessons on the fly during difficult and new situations on the court. The team heads into the postseason confident in its ability to compete and challenge for the conference trophy.
“We are grateful to be in the situation we are in,” said Dunne. “Basketball is a long season with lots of adversity, but our guys have fully embraced all the adversity that has come their way and found ways to win anyways. Our group has embraced the chase and loved the work and we have a lot of belief that we can dance.”
“In Baltimore this weekend we have to do what we have done all season – make every play count, come to compete, do your job, empty the tank and finish strong.”
This story was originally posted on the Gettysburg College Website.