January 31, 2009
Shoremen Elude #25 Bullets, 64-62
Washington Snaps 10-Game Skid To Gettysburg

GETTYSBURG, PA – Senior guard Tim Kohlrus (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) scored a team-high 21 points, including the go-ahead basket with just under a minute left as visiting Washington College downed host Gettysburg, 64-62, on Saturday afternoon at Bream Gym. The Shoremen, who snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Bullets, improve to 9-10 overall and 6-6 in the Centennial, while the 25th ranked Bullets fall to 13-5 and 8-4 respectively. It is Washington's first win over a ranked opponent since February 1, 2003, when the Shoremen downed Franklin & Marshall, 96-86, who was ranked 15th at the time.

With the score deadlocked at 59-59 with 1:02 left, Washington called a timeout and out of the timeout, senior guard Tim Kohlrus (Fairfax, VA/W.T. Woodson) canned a jumper to give the guests a 61-59 left with 57 seconds left. Gettysburg's Dan Capkin drew a foul with 26 seconds left and had the chance to tie the game with two free throws, but he could only convert one of the two free throws and the Shoremen led 61-60. Kohlrus was fouled three seconds later and hit both from the line to make it 63-60 with 23 ticks to go. The Bullets got a layup from Andrew Powers to cut the Shoremen's lead to 63-62 with six seconds left. Kohlrus was fouled with five seconds left on the in-bounds pass and hit one of two free throws to increase the lead to 64-62. Gettysburg had one last chance, but Capkin's three-pointer with two ticks left was off and the Shoremen come away with their first win over the Bullets since a 77-74 triumph on January 13, 2004 in Chestertown, MD. The Shoremen also snapped an eight-game losing streak at Gettysburg with the win. WC's last win at Gettysburg was a 74-65 victory on January 25, 1997.

Gettysburg jumped out to a 14-7 lead, its largest of the day, in the first 6:47 of the game following a three-pointer by Capkin. Washington respond with an 11-4 run to knot the game at 18-18 on a triple from junior forward Alan Kines (Towson, MD/Towson) with 6:36 to go in the opening stanza. Washington would take its first lead since early in the game at 21-20 on a trifecta from Kohlrus with 4:26 left in the first. Washington took its biggest lead of the half at eight points, 29-21, on a three by Kines with 12 seconds left and took a 29-23 lead into halftime. The Shoremen held the Bullets without a field goal for the final 5:27 of the first.

Washington scored six of the first nine points of the second half to take a 35-26 lead, its biggest of the game, on a three by junior guard Andrew Chambers (Williamsport, MD/St. Maria Goretti) with 16:57 remaining on the clock. Gettysburg answered with a 9-2 run over the next 2:34 to trim the lead to 37-35 on a dunk by Andrew Powers. Kevin Kennedy would net a pair of free throws to level the game at 37-37 with 13:27 left. Washington responded by scoring five of the next six points to take a 42-38 lead with 12:00 left. The Bullets took control of the game with a 13-4 run to take a 51-46 lead which was concluded on two from the charity stripe by Powers with 6:06 left.

Down 51-46 with 6:06 to go in the game, the Shoremen fought back with a 7-0 run in the next 53 seconds to take a 53-51 lead on two free throws from senior guard Todd Green (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood). With WC up 55-54, Capkin drained a three to give Gettysburg a 57-55 lead with 3:33 left. Junior forward James Whall (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) evened it at 57-57 with 3:12 left on a jumper. Powers answered for the Bullets to make it 59-57 with 2:58 remaining, but Kines hit two from the free throw line to tie it again at 59-59 with 2:25 to go.

Kines scored 13 points, while Whall netted 11 points to give the Shoremen three double-figure scorers on the afternoon. Chambers grabbed nine rebounds, tying him for tops in the contest and led the team in assists with four. In addition to his 21 points, Kohlrus added seven rebounds in the win.

Powers led all players with 24 points on 9-for-13 shoointg, while totaling eight boards, while Capkin added 20 points and led all players with three steals. Joe Spierenberg tied Chambers for tops in rebounds with nine. Chris Nevolo dished out a game-high seven assists.

Gettysburg shot 42% from the floor to Washington's 38%, but shot just 19% from three-point range (3-for-16), compared to 39% for the Shoremen (7-for-18). Washington held a 38-34 edge on the boards, including holding the Bullets to just three offensive rebounds in the game.

The Shoremen, who are 5-1 in their last six games, return to action on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. Centennial Conference game versus Ursinus.

BOX SCORE